The spate of injuries that has swept like the plague through the Indian team in general, and the bowling department in particular, has generated immense uncertainty ahead of Monday’s selection committee meeting here.

Dilip Vengsarkar’s panel is to confabulate with skipper Anil Kumble and new coach Gary Kirsten on Monday afternoon to button down a squad for the first two Tests against South Africa, in Chennai from March 26 and Ahmedabad from April 3. As things stand now, it is unclear if it will be a 14 or a 15-man squad, particularly with question marks over key bowlers to go with the ruling out of ace paceman Zaheer Khan.
It didn’t help matters any that Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh, scheduled to undergo fitness Tests at the National Cricket Academy here on Sunday afternoon, didn’t turn up, having apparently declared themselves fit to Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Niranjan Shah on Saturday itself. The duo, however, is expected to attend the fitness test on Monday.

The hero of the Australian tour, Ishant Sharma, did make an appearance, spending just over half an hour in the company of National Cricket Academy’s Chief Operating Officer Dav Whatmore, Strengthning and Conditioning Coach Paul Chapman and Physiotherapist Paul Close. There was no official word on how the 19-year-old went, but the lack of any outdoor activity would seem to suggest that Ishant is still to recover from the big toe injury of the left foot that necessitated him to take cortisone shots during his heroic run in Australia.

Harbhajan was diagnosed with a slight left hamstring problem by outgoing national team physio John Gloster, while Yuvraj has a long-standing left knee injury; both men were key members of the triumphant one-day side in Australia, but Gloster’s report came at the end of the Aussie sojourn, and the lack of a medical opinion hasn’t made the task of Vengsarkar’s unit any easier.

Settled look
The batting wears a settled look apart from Yuvraj -- Wasim Jaffer’s impressive recent record should come to his rescue despite six straight failures in Australia -- but the bowling is less so. Rudra Pratap Singh has recovered totally from the left hamstring tear that ended his Australian tour during the Adelaide Test, and should spearhead the quick bowling in fellow left-arm pacer Zaheer’s absence. The cloud over Ishant notwithstanding, the selectors aren’t short on options. They can pick from Irfan Pathan, S Sreesanth, Praveen Kumar and Munaf Patel, with the first two almost certain to make the cut and one of the last two likely to get the nod if Ishant is ruled out.

The faint question marks over Harbhajan’s availability could open the doors for one of two leg-spinners, Piyush Chawla or Amit Mishra, as part of a three-pronged spin component alongside skipper Kumble and left-armer Murali Kartik. Kartik was part of the Test squad against Pakistan without playing a match, and should figure in the eleven if Harbhajan is unavailable, or if conditions dictate the inclusion of three spinners.

Yuvraj had a very poor run in his two Tests in Australia, and his place will evoke healthy debate, particularly with Gautam Gambhir in such outstanding form. Jaffer too could come under pressure because Gambhir is essentially an opening bat; Mumbai youngster Rohit Sharma can be excused for thinking he has an outside chance, but with Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman all picking themselves alongside one-day captain and wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the 20-year-old may not follow the proceedings of the meeting with too much enthusiasm!