Ganguly or Yuvraj after Jaffer's blank fire!

Dhaka, May 23 (UNI) Either Sourav Ganguly or Yuvraj Singh is likely to replace Wasim Jaffer in the second Test commencing here on May 25 as the opening slot continues to be Achille's heel for Team India.

Jaffer is talented, but inconsistent to say the least. Even in South Africa late last year, India's opening problems continued to worry the team with Jaffer hitting the rock bottom with a string of failures before doing himself a big favour by hitting a century to book a berth for Bangladesh squad.

The Mumbai willlower's 'pair', including the first ball dismissal in the first innings in the Chittagong Test, has also triggered wide-ranging speculations, with Yuvraj seemed to be the likely replacement. The reason of course would be not to dislodge the players doing well in their respective slots and Ganguly returned with roaring success in the middle-order.

Yuvraj had been reasonably successful in the opening slot whenever opportunities came his way before his knee injury took over. The other possibility would of course be Ganguly being asked to open and V V S Laxman coming in to bolster the middle order.

The Bengal southpaw has been successful as an opener and has said he was willing to bat anywhere.

Young Dinesh Karthick, who partnered Jaffer in Chittagong, came good in the first innings scoring a classy half century. He perished early in the second innings, but that was the result of his bid to accelerate the run rate following instructions from the dressing room. He will keep his place at the top of the order.

The 29-year-old Jaffer's inclusion in the squad had raised many an eyebrows after the BCCI repeatedly stressed on choosing a relatively young squad for the Bangladesh tour.

It is certain that skipper Rahul Dravid will not come out to bat first up at least on the flat tracks of Bangladesh, though he has said he is game for it if the conditions are difficult and the ball does a bit off the seam.

Meanwhile, the Indian team has been invited to an official dinner tonight and even when the pleasantries will flow Dravid will be wearing his thinking cap forking on the opening slot.

Quite a food for thought! UNI