That will also mean that Dinesh Kaarthick keeps wickets and also makes way for Gambhir at the top. A big test for the two, keeping in mind the Australia series.

This will be a well-deserved opportunity for Yuvraj, who can finally prove himself as a Test player. He played his last Test 18 months ago. But there was a word of advice from cricket manager Lalchand Rajput to the middle-order batsman. “Be focused on the job at hand and never let negative thoughts come into the mind,” he said. But he did understand Yuvraj’s plight. “In earlier days, we used to think that we will get one chance and we have to make the most of it. If he gets a big hundred, you never know,” Rajput said.

Another tempting option for Kumble today was to include two more spinners in the team besides himself. When asked if left-arm spinner Murali Kartik will play, Kumble said, “We’ll take a call on that tomorrow morning. It depends on the weather and the all-important look of the pitch in the morning.”

The relative inexperience of pacers VRV Singh and Ishant Sharma, and the history of the ground, were factors that favoured the three-spinner theory. The last Test India won in Bangalore was 12 years ago, and the bowling line-up had names like Kumble, Venkatpathy Raju and Rajesh Chauhan.

But despite such temptations, Kumble would stick to two spinners - two pacer attack. The big decision the team management had to make was: Do they go ahead with their best four bowlers in the squad—Kumble, Harbhajan, Kartik and Pathan—or do they get swayed by conditions? It is learnt that the decision was influenced by the condition.

... contd.