The media is abuzz with speculation over the squad for the first test to be announced in Vadodara tomorrow. Apart from a couple of spots, it's straightforward.

This is a home series, so it will be a 14 man squad. I would choose a 7 batsmen, 1 keeper, 6 bowler squad. You could have an extra batsman if 15 are named. Here's my squad:

Batsmen : Gambhir / Jaffer, Sehwag, Dravid, Sachin, VVS, Kaif, Raina / Ganguly.  There would be no argument if Yuvraj were fit. In his absence, I would give Kaif his long awaited chance. He has led U.P. to the Ranji Championship and played well this year. He has been patient and deserves his chance. There is no point persisting with Dada as he is a short term option only. Raina will gain from being in the squad even if he doesn't play.  I expect the selectors to pick Saurav as they want to show that they eased him out gracefully.

Keeper : No contest, it's Dhoni.

Bowlers : Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, R P Singh, Piyush Chawla, Sreesanth. I suspect the selectors will pick Agarkar again but I would not - he has had his chances - time for bye bye. Zaheer should be chosen ahead of him.

I am surprised a squad is being named so early. The selectors could have waited to see how Jaffer, Gambhir, VRV Singh, Munaf Patel and Venugopal Rao do against England starting tomorrow. I would like to see how VRV Singh does.

I have preferred Gambhir over Jaffer purely because he is left handed and needs to be given a fair run to prove himself. There isn't much to seperate Venugopal and Raina. I would watch Venu closely as his batting may be  more suited to tests. Piyush Chawla has had a very good under 19 World Cup and has to be selected. The English know Kumble and Bhajji well and Piyush gives us a handy option. In fact, if Bhajji struggles I would pick Piyush ahead of him. Let's face it - Bhajji has been poor abroad for a while now and has lost his variation since the trouble over his 'doosra'. Kumbles is on the verge of retirement. Young spinners should be blooded now so that they can learn and grow in the shadow of the seniors before taking on the mantle themselves. Piyush will add freshness to our bowling and has the potential to be more effective overseas. He is also a better batsman than Bhajji and Kumble and I will be  disappointed if he is not selected.

I have been reading the statements from the English camp with interest. Some of them seem to said as if to reassure themselves. This English team will be more positive and competitive and I thank God for that. We all remember the dreary negative tactics of Nasser Hussain and Giles during the last visit. This is a better team and will attack more. They have a very good pace attack which will test our batsmen, even on our pitches. I expect India to win but they will have to earn it. This is not going to be a cakewalk.