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Chennai: Former captain Rahul Dravid is set to return to the Indian One-day team after nearly a two-year gap when the selectors meet on Sunday to pick the squads for next month's tri-series in Sri Lanka and the subsequent Champions Trophy in South Africa.
Krishnamachari Srikkanth and his colleagues in the selection committee would go by the players' performance in their last ODI series in the West Indies, which they won 2-1, besides their fitness levels which was assessed in Delhi and Mumbai under coach Gary Kirsten's hawk eyes.
"Apart from the performances of players in the Caribbeans, we will strictly go by the fitness reports of each cricketer, including those who were not part of the squad for West Indies," one of the selectors said.
Dravid's return is more or less certain for both the tournaments since the selectors believe such a move would bolster the Indian middle order which looked vulnerable to short-pitch stuff during the Twenty20 World Cup in England.
Besides, Dravid's inclusion is all the more important since opener Virender Sehwag is yet to complete his rehabilitation after undergoing a shoulder surgery.
"We strongly feel that Dravid is well equipped to handle short balls, which some of the younger players are unable to cope with. Moreover, Sehwag has not played any game since his injury and is yet to clear fitness test," the selector said.
Dravid played the last of his 333 ODIs back in October 2007 against Australia in Nagpur and the former India captain has amassed 10,585 runs at an average of 39.49.
Sehwag injured his shoulder during the Indian Premier League in South Africa and underwent a surgery. The Delhi batsman has started lifting light weights but will not be able to resume ground training before the first week of September.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has also indicated that Sehwag has little time to recover before the September 8-14 tri-series in Sri Lanka, which also involves New Zealand.
Sehwag himself has targeted next month's Champions Trophy, having missed the previous ICC event, the Twenty20 World Cup, because of the injury.
Sachin Tendulkar is also set to return to the side, after skipping the ODI series in the West Indies.
In Sehwag's absence, Tendulkar is likely to open the innings with Delhi left-hander Gautam Gambhir while stumper-batsman Dinesh Karthik is likely to be the reserve opener.
Suresh Raina, who missed the West Indies tour with a thumb injury, is expected to return which might cost Rohit Sharma his place in the side.
Yuvraj Singh and skipper MS Dhoni will fill the other slots in the batting order.
Harbhajan Singh will lead the spin attack, with left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha expected to retain his place.
Yusuf Pathan, who has been chipping in with the bat besides rolling his arms to good effect, will retain his place but Ravindra Jadeja may have to pave way for Abhishek Nayar who did not get a fair chance in the West Indies.
In the pace bowling department, Zaheer Khan's absence, owing to a shoulder surgery, weakens the attack. In this scenario, Ishant Sharma, RP Singh and Ashish Nehra are likely to retain their places, while Munaf Patel could be preferred to Praveen Kumar as the fourth seamer.
The selected Indian players will have a four-day training camp at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore from August 27. The camp is expected to focus on both physical conditioning and skills before the players disperse on August 30 to participate in the BCCI Corporate Cup.
The team is expected to regroup on August 7 before leaving for the Sri Lanka tri-series.
