If you're standing some distance away as Sarandeep Singh gives the ball some air, you could mistake him for a golfer throwing tufts of grass into the wind to gauge its direction. The ball describes a gentle – almost lazy – loop before pitching, in sharp contrast to the much flatter curve favoured by the likes of Anil Kumble. Today, as the Indian team warmed up with a far-from-strenuous training session, Sarandeep's flight and sleight of hand were on exhibition at the nets. Virender Sehwag gave him the charge a few times, threatening to send the ball out of the Chinnaswamy Stadium, but most of his big hits ended up endangering low-flying crows and not bystanders. Erapalli Prasanna, the greatest offspinner India has ever produced and the finest slow bowler of his era according to Ian Chappell (someone who knew a thing or two about playing the turning ball), sees no reason why India shouldn't play both Harbhajan and Sarandeep.

"If they're both good enough," he said a couple of months ago, "why not?" It was clear that he had a soft spot for Sarandeep. Prasanna was the absolute master of the yoyo-like art of flight and unlike Harbhajan, who bowls flatter and faster, Sarandeep floats them up and lets them rip.

Harbhajan, much like Kumble who turns the googly more than the legbreak, takes more wickets with the offspinner's googly. Far from creating monotony, Sarandeep's classical offspin would actually add variety to the Indian attack.

Sarandeep has earned his recall too. Not many men are dumped after picking up six wickets in their debut Test (against Zimbabwe at Nagpur in November 2000). Sarandeep has worked his way back through a series of impressive performances in domestic cricket, topped with a five-for against England in a tour match last month.

Chinese whispers around the ground suggested that he will be part of the spin troika to be employed by Sourav Ganguly and John Wright to snuff out England's chances of squaring the series.

The pitch is tailor-made for spin bowling. If you're up in the stands, the strip prepared for this game looks deceptively verdant. On closer examination, you see that the tufts of green are as sparse as Che Guevara's beard and concentrated mainly on the fringes.

There are spidery cracks across the surface but it has been rolled flat and hard. The curator, Kasturi Rangan, reckons that there will be a bit of bounce but plenty of purchase for the spinners.

If Sarandeep is chosen, Tinu Yohannan's first spell in Test cricket will last just two Test matches. India won't tinker with the batting order and Ganguly will take the new ball with Javagal Srinath.

Dileep Premachandran is assistant editor of Wisden.com India

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd