In the past, selection meetings have seen the sort of skullduggery and behind-the-scenes machinations that would have made Machiavelli blanch. Nepotism was rife and you would have done well to hold a hanky to your nose to keep away the stench of regional bias. That still exists at certain levels – the witless selection of Arjun Yadav for the Challenger Series being a pertinent case in point - but of late, the much-derided national selectors have actually been getting things right. You'd need an extra-sharp object to pick holes when it comes to the squad of 16 chosen to tour the West Indies. Some would say that Yuvraj Singh and Ajit Agarkar were a mite unfortunate but their omissions are hardly stunning. Don't expect any burning effigies and riots in the street.

The selectors' task was made easier by the fact that the core of the team is already in place – it just needs a tweak or two. Shiv Sunder Das, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath are all certainties in the XI when fit. VVS Laxman was once part of that select band but some less-than-convincing displays of late have seen him pushed to the fringes.

The selection of both Deep Dasgupta and Wasim Jaffer means that India are unlikely to fumble their lines in the opening act. Dasgupta's batting may not be poetry in motion but there's a steely edge to it that Indian cricket cannot ignore. With Ajay Ratra also chosen as a wicketkeeper, we can only hope that Dasgupta is asked to do what he does best – not keep wicket.

Jaffer didn't rack up the numbers needed to stay in the team in his first outing at Test level. He is an elegant strokeplayer and had the weight of domestic runs to press his case for inclusion. His debut against Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock was a real baptism of fire and he'll be relieved that he won't encounter any bowlers of similar quality in the Caribbean. With Das also in good nick, Dravid and Tendulkar may finally get a chance to play as middle order batsmen, instead of rushing in with the score at 10 for 2.

Virender Sehwag's shoulder injury means that his stop-start career has hit the skids once more. So Dinesh Mongia finds himself going to the Caribbean instead of to South Africa with the A team. Sehwag originally went to South Africa on the back of a scintillating one-day hundred in Sri Lanka, and Mongia's inclusion was no doubt prompted by a similar innings against Zimbabwe at Guwahati two days ago. Don't be too surprised if he makes a similar impact if thrown into the deep end.

Yuvraj was in sparkling form in the two one-dayers he played but he appears to have been pigeonholed as a limited-overs player. The same goes for Agarkar, who bowled quite superbly against Zimbabwe. While a series against a West Indies team desperate to restore some lost pride might not be the place to experiment, it's certainly debatable whether Sanjay Bangar is a better allround bet than Agarkar or Yuvraj.

The bowlers pick themselves. Carl Hooper certainly won't be requesting turning tracks, given his side's appalling record against spinners, so Harbhajan and Kumble are enough to handle spinning duties. West Indian pitches have been notoriously lifeless of late but, given India's traditional frailty against pace, expect the curators to organise a resurrection. India would do well to play three pace bowlers in such a scenario, with Zaheer Khan and Srinath sharing the new ball.

That would leave Ashish Nehra and Tinu Yohannan to scrap for the final spot. Yohannan didn't uproot trees in the two Tests he played but he did reveal an ability to slant the ball away from the left-hander at pace. While he's no Glenn McGrath, it might be interesting to see how he does against Brian Lara.

The 16 may be fine, but choosing an eleven is still a headache. As ever, balance is the problem. In an ideal world, Ratra would keep wicket. But if he does, India would be forced to drop a batsman, most likely Laxman. The alternative, Dasgupta doubling up as opener and stumper, doesn't even bear thinking about. If Bangar plays, you risk going into a Test match with just five specialist batsmen, four bowlers and a bits-and-pieces allrounder. Problems aplenty.

Dileep Premachandran is assistant editor of Wisden.com India.

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