I talked earlier about Sehwag's inclusion in the Test squad for Australia being a good move on the part of the selectors. However, after seeing him sit out the practice game against Victoria, I wondered if it was just to be a matter of a good pick and nothing else. However, the stars seem to be in his favour, and with some luck, he might be walking out to open in Melbourne.

First let me be very clear about one thing; I have nothing against Wasim Jaffer and my thinking is all about what my gut instinct says. So I could be wrong or I could be right, but I couldn't care a fig about who is an opener and who is not, who scored a double ton recently and who didn't. My instinct depends absolutely on who the opposition is and what a player's capabilities are and has nothing to do with anything else.

In my book, the talk about whether or not (see here and here) Dravid will open with Jaffer or Sehwag is really futile. Jaffer should not open, period! Yes, he got a double ton recently, but in my book, the best batting attack that India has on this tour doesn't include Jaffer. It includes Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag, S.R.T., Yuvraj and Ganguly, and the fact that only one of them is an opener and that too low on confidence makes me pause for thought. But in my final list, all these batsmen stay. Instinct, as I said! India needs to pad up its batting real strong to ensure that the weak bowling attack always has something worth fighting for. Therefore, its strategy has to be batting-centric.

To do well in Australia, the Indians have to keep attacking till the last minute of the last Test match. The moment they try to play safe, they will be smashed by the mean Australian machine which is an expert at feeding off the fears of the opposition. In this team, Sehwag can take the attack to the opposition like none other can. When he does this upfront, there is no better way to start off a first innings or even a second. Of course, for that to happen, he will have to survive the first two overs, which he hasn't really been very successful at doing in the past couple of series. But India have to take that gamble. If the team, with its Tendulkars, Dravids, Laxmans, Gangulys, Sehwags and Kumbles, does lose to an Australian team that has newbies such as Shaun Tait, Mitchell Johnson, Michael Clarke and Stuart Clark, it will be highly disappointing. And instinct says Jaffer won't really drive India towards victory in Australia, but Sehwag just might!

I have no hesitation in advocating S.R.T., Laxman, Ganguly and Dravid for the team, for various reasons. Despite Dravid's mental state being the way it is after he gave up captaincy (and I still think there is something rotten in Denmark there), losing his ODI slot and not having a great time of it against Pakistan, I stand by my conviction that Dravid is the man who can adapt the best in this team. Even if he has to adapt once more to the opening slot despite the various thoughts clogging his mind, I believe he can succeed, notwithstanding his past failures at the experiment. In my line-up, Dravid has to open if not for any other reason than that the others cannot really pull it off. Given a choice, I would keep Dravid in the middle order. But with Jaffer left out of my list, there is no other option before me. S.R.T. will bat where he wishes, but definitely not in the opening slot. Laxman is as bad at adaptation as Dravid is good, and even the thought of Ganguly opening is laughable.

Yuvraj is currently being touted as the unlucky one who might be made to sit out of the first Test. But the way I see it, you have to play Yuvraj, simply because he is red hot. As for opening, Yuvraj should be left out of the reckoning for the simple reason that he, after Sehwag, is the weapon that India has in its armoury to take the attack to the Aussies. I prefer keeping one weapon at the opening slot and one in the middle order, and Yuvraj is more likely to do well in the middle. One interesting experiment would be to have Sehwag and Yuveraj open and let Dravid bat in the middle, because if this clicks, I cannot think of a more devastating blow to the Aussies. However, while it isn't impossible, gambles must also be a bit reasonable. Yuvraj's off-stump play still convinces me that he will make a lousy opener but might do pretty well with the old ball. Here is hoping he doesn't come in with the new ball due in two overs!!!

Ganguly makes my team for the kind of form he is currently in. But something inside me tells me Australia is going to be a whole different ball-game. His comeback has not ceased to amaze me. But in Australia against Lee, Tait, Clark and Mitchell? Hmmm...

Tendulkar is in simply because the world is not yet ready to even consider his being out of an Indian Test team. While I have no doubts that he will score his share of runs and get a decent average, my mind cannot accept anymore the picture of his batting being able to decide the series, as it might have been possible some years ago. This is especially after I saw him get that double hundred in Sydney last time - a double hundred that is hailed by many as the masterpiece of a batsman out of form and considered by me as the true sign that Tendulkar can no longer be great, a feeling that has only strengthened over time.

I have not had the confidence i used to in Laxman for a year or so, but I have also not been convinced that his time is past, which is a feeling I have had about Ganguly and Tendulkar. His being the only one among the middle order who is expendable and can be treated as a dirty rag at any time might have affected him, but his batting talent still holds me in awe. The only thing I don't want to see is Laxman coming in at 6, for the simple reason that the man has no idea of how to play with the tail. In that regard, I would prefer anyone among the other five batting at number six.

For the greatness of Laxman to steer India towards anything like a winning total, he needs to have genuine batsmen playing with him, not a Kumble or a Zaheer. For some reason, he sees nothing wrong in taking singles off the first ball or letting the batsman at the other end take one off the last ball. With a tail like we have, we need someone who understands that the tail is... errr... a tail. Laxman hasn't understood that in many years yet, and keeping intact my line-up that has Dravid and Sehwag opening, Laxman cannot come in at a position lower than four. Considering the sacredness of Tendulkar's occupying the number four slot, number three is left for Laxman, a position in which he has worked his magic before. This leaves open the risk of losing Dravid and Laxman to the new ball, but then, nothing ventured is nothing gained. Moreover, as I always say, a fighting loss is as much a loss as a crushing defeat.

I present here my preferred and probable batting line-up for the first six slots:

Preferred team (considering that the six indeed are the six named earlier): Sehwag, Dravid, Ganguly, Laxman, Tendulkar, Yuvraj.

Probable team (considering that the six indeed are the six named earlier) - Sehwag, Dravid, Laxman, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Yuvraj.

Since I am not a member of the team management (sad though that may be), I will also present here a batting line-up which I think the Indian team management with its typical mindset would select - Jaffer, Dravid, Laxman, S.R.T., Ganguly, Sehwag.

Irrespective of whatever happens, I am getting goose bumps. Playing Australia in Australia - what could be better than that?