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The All India Senior National Selection Committee met today at the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association's M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai and selected a 14-member team for the Indian Board President's XI slated to play against Australia at Mohali from the 25th - 27th September 2010.

Supposed to be the tour opener, the three-day game would be followed by test matches in Mohali & Bangalore before the teams move on to play a best-of-three ODI series. The one-day matches would be held at Kochi, Goa and Vishakapatnam.

Indian opener Gautam Gambhir will lead a team which consists of a host of young and aggressive batsmen in Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli amongst others. Bengal wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha will be entrusted with keeping duties in a squad which also has the talented Mumbai batsman, Ajinkya Rahane. Gambhir's selection as part of the squad serves a dual purpose - the left hander had a poor run in Sri Lanka falling to Lasith Malinga consistently before injury cut short his tour. While providing able leadership to the side, Gambhir can also work his way back into form.

Pujara has been on the verge of breaking into the Indian test side for a couple of seasons now, and a century against the touring Aussies could do wonders for his claims of a test berth. The exclusion of Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Karthik is noteworthy, the selectors obviously feeling that they have given both players enough opportunities and are keen on looking elsewhere. Dhawan, Kohli and Rahane are all presently in South Africa for the Champions League T20 and it will be interesting to see if they can make the adjustment from the smash and grab style of the game to the 3-day version in such a short span of time.

Gambhir also has plenty of bowling options to fall back on with two quality spinners, R Ashwin and Piyush Chawla in the side. Neither are really pressing for test selection, with Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra firmly holding the three available slots, though a great performance from either Ashwin or Chawla in particular could put a little bit more pressure on Mishra. Allrounder Ravindra Jadeja has been given a rare call-up, and chances are he may even make the playing eleven to add more balance to the squad.

Abhimanyu Mithun, who debuted in the recently concluded series against Sri Lanka, will get another chance to impress the selectors. The selectors have also given a look-in to 18-year old left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat, who has impressed with his performances for India A. It will be unlikely though that India will go into the game with 3 seamers, and chances are S Sreesanth will share the new ball with Mithun. The temperamental Kerala skipper is a quality swing bowler and will be desperate to make the most of his opportunity.

Squad: Gautam Gambhir (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Wriddhiman Saha, R. Ashwin, Piyush Chawla, Abhimanyu Mitun, S. Sreesanth, Jaydev Unadkat, Umesh Yadav, Abhinav Mukund, Ravindra Jadeja

File Photograph Copyright: BCB