The decks have finally been cleared for the conditioning camp at Chennai where the 25 probables for the series against Australia will be put through their paces. Put back by a day to February 7, the camp will be interrupted by the Challenger one-day series from February 12-15, after which the players named in the India-A squad proceed to Nagpur for the tour opener against Australia.

Thirteen players are already here and four others are expected tonight. The remaining eight, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, S S Das, VVS Laxman, Javagal Srinath, Debashis Mohanty, Balaji Rao and V Raju are reaching Chennai by noon tomorrow from Raichur where they are playing a benefit match for Bangalore-based coach Tarapore. The camp will be held in two sessions with morning practice at the IIT-Chemplast ground following which the probables move to the MRF Pace Foundation in the afternoon. "The accent will be on cricketing skills. We are aware of the tough series ahead and are geared up for the challenge" coach John Wright told Press Trust of India. Former Australian opener Geoff Marsh who is taking up a consultative position with the BCCI will also be present, reported PTI.

With the Board's announcement that a second and final preparatory camp is being organised in Mumbai from February 20-25 for the Test squad, the Chennai exercise is clearly designed to let coach John Wright assess the players, not all of whom he will be familiar with. Having made a preliminary estimate of those on the fringes, Wright will get to see whether their performances in the Challenger Series and the tour opener compare with his assessment.

In attempting to prune the list down to 14, the problem area for Wright clearly is the bowling and more precisely the spin department. It's clear at this moment that not one of the seven spinners in the probables can be assured of a place in the Test side. In a scenario where most of them are quite raw, there is a crying need for an old hand. Going by sheer experience, Venkatapathy Raju is the best equipped to fill that niche. He's not had a great time in the Duleep Trophy but then again most of the spinners on view were treated roughly.

Sharandeep Singh bowled just 33 overs in three matches in the same competition, so he's had precious little match practice since making his Test debut in November. But the six wickets he got on a VCA wicket in Nagpur offering little for the bowlers should safeguard his position. In that case, the third spot is likely to hinge considerably on the India-A clash against Australia where Harbhajan Singh, Rahul Sanghvi and Balaji Rao get the opportunity to lock a final spot. The seam attack is more generously endowed and Javagal Srinath and Ajit Agarkar should be the first two names pencilled in. But left armer Zaheer Khan will be hard pressed to fight off the challenge of Debashis Mohanty and Ashish Nehra. The latter two will be in custody of the new ball for India-A and a good showing could see either one through.

There is little dispute regarding the batsmen though, with no one to hold a candle to the existing middle order, Laxman in tow. The seventh batting slot in the Test 14 is likely to be contested by Mohd. Kaif, Dinesh Mongia and Hemang Badani who are all in the India-A squad. For that matter, going by the curious fact that they are the only specialist openers among the probables, Sadagopan Ramesh and Shiv Sunder Das are also certainties. But Wright did indicate a few days ago that players from outside the probables may sneak into the Test team. Gagan Khoda's call-up to the India-A team could be designed to keep Ramesh and Das on their toes. Nayan Mongia's presence in the India-A team gives him a headstart over Vijay Dahiya as wicketkeeper. Only a decidedly poor showing can keep Mongia away from his first India appearance in 20 months.

In passing it may be mentioned that the MRF Pace Foundation has four wickets at its disposal, one slow, two semi-fast and one super-fast, in the words of Sri Lankan Rumesh Ratnayake, who was here with three of his wards for a two-week coaching stint. With chairman of selectors Chandu Borde having flatly denied giving orders to prepare flat wickets for the Test series, the wide gamut of practice wickets at hand should fully test the preparedness of the chosen few.

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