The Indian squad for the forthcoming cricket one-day series against arch rivals Pakistan will be chosen during the NKP Challenger Series in Ahmedabad.

“The selectors would choose the team on October 26 or 27 at Ahmedabad during the Challenger Series,”  Board of Control for Cricket in India Secretary Niranjan Shah said here.

“It’s up to the selectors to decide on picking the squad for one or more matches for the Pakistan series,” he added.

Three teams — India Red, India Blue and India Green — will fight it out in the four-day tournament, beginning on October 25.

Mohd Kaif, Parthiv Patel and Virender Sehwag have been named to lead the three teams in the limited overs four-day tournament, which will be played on a league-cum knock-out format. All the matches will be day-night affairs.

Meanwhile, Murali Kartik — who was drafted into the Indian Twenty20 squad in place of injured leg spinner Piyush Chawla — may also be rested for the Challenger Series though he has been named in the India Blue team, according to sources.

One-day captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, vice-captain Yuvraj Singh and the four senior players — Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Zaheer Khan — have already been given a rest from the Challenger event in view of the long season ahead.

The five-match Indo-Pak series commences at Guwahati on November 5 and ends at Jaipur on November 18. The other ties are to be held at Mohali (Nov 8), Kanpur (Nov 11) and Gwalior (Nov 15).
Meanwhile, curator Dhiraj Prasanna said a fast and bouncy wickets awaits team during the Challenger Trophy.