Injuries to key players, including skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, would be at the back of the national selectors' minds when they sit in Mumbai on Friday to pick the Indian squad for Twenty20 Cricket World Cup, which commences in the West Indies next month.
Dhoni, who was hit on his forearm by New Zealand pacer Shane Bond when leading Chennai Super Kings against Kolkata Knight Riders on March 16, has, however, rejoined his team members and declared himself fit.
Barring the odd surprise, the five selectors are unlikely to experiment too much with the team.
One of the players expected to get a look-in following his impressive show in 2008 IPL and current edition of the lucrative Twenty20 league is Karnataka's Manish Pandey, who has also been in peak form in this year's Ranji Trophy championship.
Pandey has made the wise move to move up the order and accompany veteran South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis in giving his franchise outfit Royal Challengers Bangalore sound starts in IPL III.
The inclusion of Pandey will give the Indian team the option to have another explosive player at the top of the order to take advantage of the first six overs of power play which sets the tone of the course of the innings.
Another player, who is under a cloud but not because of injury, is Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, an integral part of the Indian ODI squad. The IPL had imposed a one-year ban on him for breaching player guidelines.
