The Indian selectors have included Virender Sehwag in the squad for the first Test against England at Mohali but axed all the fast bowlers who played the Test series in South Africa. The selection of Sehwag means ICC and the Board of Control for Cricket in India remain on a collision course: ICC has said the Sehwag must still serve his one-match ban, while the BCCI insists that he served the ban during the game at Centurion. If Sehwag makes the final XI, ICC will be forced to strip the game of its Test status and the whole tour could be in jeopardy. India have until noon on Friday (local time) to say whether Sehwag will actually play.

Chairman of selectors Chandu Borde said he had not received any directions from BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya to pick or drop Sehwag. "We went entirely by merit, and on merit, you can't drop a batsman who scored a century on debut less than a fortnight ago," Borde said, before adding, "We will finalise the team after having a good look at the conditions in Mohali."

Three uncapped seamers - Sanjay Bangar, Iqbal Siddiqui and Tinu Yohannan - were included in the 14-man squad while Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar were all dropped after less-than-impressive performances in seamer-friendly conditions over the last month.

Javagal Srinath was the only fast bowler who emerged from that series with any credit, taking 13 wickets in two official Tests, but a fractured finger in the unofficial match at Centurion has ruled him out of the Mohali Test. Venkatesh Prasad wasn't considered for the squad because of a sprained neck.

Sarandeep Singh and Bangar were rewarded for their good show against England in the tour game in Hyderabad. Sarandeep took five scalps in the first innings of that match, while Bangar took a five-for in the second, and finished with seven wickets for the match.

By contrast, the selectors kept faith with the batsmen who didn't exactly cover themselves in glory either. This means no place for opener Sadagoppan Ramesh, who is available again after injury.

The squad in full

Batsmen
SS Das age 24, 13 Test caps
Connor Williams 28, 0
Rahul Dravid 28, 50
Sachin Tendulkar 28, 86
Sourav Ganguly (capt) 29, 48
VVS Laxman 27, 26
Virender Sehwag 23, 2 Wicketkeeper
Deep Dasgupta (wk) 23, 2 Allrounder
Sanjay Bangar 29, 0 Spinners
Harbhajan Singh 20, 17
Anil Kumble 30, 63
Sarandeep Singh 22, 1 Seamers
Iqbal Siddiqui 26, 0
Tinu Yohannan 21, 0

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