A new opening pair could be fielded in the second Test against South Africa with chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar stating on Tuesday that the opening slot is up there for grabs.
The Indian openers, Wasim Jaffer and Virender Sehwag, have consistently failed to put up a good partnership be it in the one-dayers or the warm-up game or the first Test in Johannesburg.
And Vengsarkar, here to give his views on team selection, admitted opening is an area of concern.
"I think the opening slots are there for grabs. I think there are some players who are vying for the slot," he said.
The Indian touring squad has a specialist opener in Gautam Gambhir whose form in domestic cricket has been quite good.
The Indians have gone into Test matches since January 2005 with as many as seven different combinations.
Gambhir and Sehwag have featured in seven matches as openers and put on 703 runs at an average of 63.91.
Sehwag and Jaffer have opened in eight Tests, scoring 525 runs at an average of 37.50.
Vengsarkar was all praise for the team's historic win in the first Test against South Africa on Monday.
"I think it was an outstanding performance by the boys, they played really well. Our job is to pick the best team and that is what I did," he told NDTV.
On Sourav Ganguly, he said: "definitely he deserved the chance as a batsman but again I would like him to take wickets also. He played really well."
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