The Indian Selectors, from the left, Yadav, Chairman Borde, Malhotra and Madan Lal Photo AFP

International cricket's current crisis moved forward by one pace today when the Indian selectors named Virender Sehwag in a 14-man squad for the first Test against England scheduled to start in Mohali on Monday.

Sehwag was given a one-match ban by Mike Denness, the International Cricket Council's match referee, after Sehwag's behaviour in the second Test against South Africa in Port Elizabeth. This decision, along with other penalties handed out by Denness, resulted in India threatening to boycott the third Test. When Denness was not withdrawn for that match by the ICC, Denness and the appointed third-country umpire were replaced by South Africans and ICC deemed the match not to be an official Test.

The Indian management, not accepting ICC's edict, dropped Sehwag from that game, claiming he was therefore serving his suspension. However, if the ICC did not recognise the match as a Test, neither do they accept that the sentence has been served. The problem moved to the first Test against England, which must now be in doubt.

The ICC has given the Board of Control for Cricket in India a deadline of 0630am on Friday to decide whether to name Sehwag in the starting eleven for the Test. If he is included, there is every possibility that this match will have official Test status withdrawn and that, in turn, might well lead to the cancellation of the series.

It was always likely that BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya would want to at least see Sehwag named in the squad, for to do anything else would be seen as bowing to the authority of the ICC. It now remains to be seen how far towards the brink he is prepared to go. Face could be saved on all sides if the player was to be omitted from the final eleven for Mohali.

India's 14 for first Test:

Sourav Ganguly (capt), Rahul Dravid, Shiv Sundar Das, Connor Williams, Sachin Tendulkar, Venkatsai Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Deep Dasgupta, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Sarandeep Singh, Sanjay Bangar, Iqbal Siddiqui, Tinu Yohannan.

© CricInfo