The squad of 14, as announced by Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Jagmohan Dalmiya in Calcutta today, reads as follows: Sachin Tendulkar, W V Raman, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, V V S Laxman, Mohammad Azharuddin, Nayan Mongia, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad, Narendra Hirwani, David Johnson, Sunil Joshi and Aashish Kapoor.

Raman's entry into the side is at the expense of Sanjay Manjrekar. Chairman of selectors Ramakant Desai, speaking to the media after the team was announced, said that Raman was preferred as the Indian team ``needed a genuine opener''.

This, of course, begs two questions - one, what is un-genuine about Manjrekar? If the argument is that he is not a regular opener, then by the same logic neither is Rahul Dravid, who is doing duty in that position for India in the ongoing second Test at the Eden Gardens, Calcutta.

More to the point is this query: if Manjrekar was not seen as a genuine opener, and was picked only as a desperation ploy since Raman was recuperating from surgery, and if the selectors had no intention of playing him in the opener's slot in the Calcutta Test, then why was he in the squad anyway?

Dalmiya for his part fended off questions about the constant experimentation in the Indian team with the trite comment that ``The Indian team is passing through a transitional phase, and all these experiments are therefore understandable.''

So much for that.

Asked whether Nayan Mongia's disastrous keeping in the first innings of the second Test at Calcutta had caused the selectors to consider resting him for a bit, Dalmiya said, ``No, the committee is quite happy with Mongia and did not discuss any other names.''

Presumably this happiness extended to the simple catches that Mongia dropped in the South African first innings of the ongoing second Test. Presumably, too, the selectors do not consider that Mongia - who, as keeper, is always in the centre of the action has this year alone played in the World Cup, then in Singapore, Sharjah, Sri Lanka, Toronto, the Challenger Trophy, Titan Cup, the one-off Test against Australia and now two Tests against South Africa and, as such, might well do with a bit of a rest to get the keen edge of his mental fitness back.

Anyway. Desai, meanwhile, indicated that Venkatapathy Raju, who had bowled brilliantly in the Board President's XI game against South Africa and thereafter suffered injury, was not considered though he did produce a fitness certificate. ``The committee was not satisfied with the certificate,'' Desai said.

The upshot being that a certain Narendra Hirwani remains in the Indian squad, despite less than memorable performances in the two Tests he has played in thus far.

What is most interesting here, though, is the question of what the final team will look like. If Raman is picked because ``India needs a genuine opener'', then chances are that Raman will play. With him, presumably, will come Rahul Dravid. Numbers three and four will be Mohammad Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar. Number five - V V S Laxman or Saurav Ganguly? Which of the two will the selectors go for, given that both failed to come good at Calcut- ta?

Interestingly, the selectors indicated that they wanted six batsmen - does this indicate that both Ganguly and Laxman will play, with Mongia coming in at number seven, and leaving space only for a four-pronged attack? Could the selectors be thinking in terms of using the services of Raman as back-up spinner, and Ganguly as back-up medium pacer, to augment the four-member attack?

Questions, questions... we'll know soon enough, won't we, though?