Ganguly says Chopra will be picked

Aakash Chopra wasn't around when Sourav Ganguly addressed a press conference on his arrival in Mumbai, but he would have been heartened to hear his captain say that he would be in the squad of 14 chosen for the Australia series. Chopra failed in the first innings of the Irani Trophy against Mumbai, but his decent record in the eight Tests he played last season will see him push Yuvraj Singh for the second opener's spot.

Ganguly wouldn't let on, however, who was favourite to make the XI. In The Indian Express, he was quoted as saying: "Both will get to play in the four-day practice game."

After building a useful partnership with Virender Sehwag - who seemed to thrive in conjunction with Chopra's adhesiveness - Chopra was jettisoned for the third and final Test against Pakistan at Rawalpindi in April, with Yuvraj's century in the previous game having sealed his place.

The situation got worse when India came back from the summer hiatus with Ganguly asserting that Yuvraj would be considered for the opening slot against Australia. However, such a scenario is unlikely now given that both Yuvraj and Sehwag have been through the horrors, form-wise, since the new season started.

Chopra himself hasn't had the best of starts to the new campaign. His A team tour was ruined by a shoulder injury, and he played very little part in the team's successes.

As for Ganguly, he was anxious to play down the tag of favourites, after some recent poor displays. "We did well in Australia and Pakistan and so we were dubbed favourites for the Asia Cup but we lost," he said. "It all depends on how we play against Australia."