For India, the big problem looming ahead of the first Test against Bangladesh is not the opposition or the wicket � but it is the team selection.

India named just one opener in Wasim Jaffer for the two-match series, starting in Chittagong on Friday, and it is expected that Dinesh Karthik could be the opener, which even chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar had reiterated last month after the selection meeting for the tour.

With Mahendra Singh Dhoni certain to keep wickets and veterans Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly sure of their places in the eleven, the team management is in a quandary on whom to leave out. Either V V S Laxman or Yuvraj Singh, or leave both of them out if they decide to go in with five bowlers.

And even captain Rahul Dravid admitted it would be a tough decision to drop any of those.

"I mean it is never going to be easy to drop anyone, irrespective of who they are. But sometimes you have to do it and we will have to do it in this case definitely. It is just a part and parcel of the game. Sometimes you got to take the decisions depending on what you think the best combination for these conditions are and what gives you the best chance to win the match," he said.

"We can't obviously play all eight batsmen. Someone is going to have to miss out and going to be unlucky. We have to consider all options. We do have the option of possibly playing five bowlers in these conditions considering the weather and the wicket and considering what we are trying to achieve in this game," Dravid added.

India goes into the Test series, with a psychological advantage of having won the ODI series 2-0 and having experienced players back for the Tests. But Dravid believes experience counts for nothing, unless the seniors performed when required.

"I mean definitely it should be an advantage for us, that we have got a lot of experience. But experience only counts if you perform on the day. The game is going to start 0-0 and the scores are going to be even. So it is going to be about performances. You can have all the wealth of experience you want, but if you don't perform on a given day or in a given match it really counts for nothing," he said.

India have played three Tests against Bangladesh and are yet to lose, a record Dravid is confident of preserving.

The Indian captain is also aware of the hazards Bangladesh poses, even though they are playing Test cricket after 13 months. Last year in April, they played against Australia and nearly gave the world champions a scare in the first Test.

The main batsman that India would be looking to get out early is Mohammad Ashraful, who scored that blazing century (158) in Chittagong in the last series in 2004-05.

"Ashraful is obviously a very talented player and he played superbly in the last series. Hopefully this time we won't let him get that many runs in the series... he can score runs against somebody else," Dravid said.

The wicket at the Chittagong Divisional stadium does not have too much of grass and has a pretty flattish look to it and batsmen from both sides would be raring to have a first go.

"It looks a pretty good wicket. It has not got much grass on it, it looks pretty bare. It should hold together for the first two and half or three days. I think it should be pretty firm and hold together. It might break up as the game goes on maybe on the fourth or the fifth day. The weather is also [important], if there is bright sunshine for three days then it does dry up and you can get some spin," Dravid said.

"We have seen in the practice wickets also. As we have been playing more and more on them, it tended to get a bit slower and started gripping and turning a bit. But initially I expect it to be pretty good and hold firm for a few days atleast," he added.

Both teams had an outdoor practice session at the Chittagong stadium on Thursday morning. The weather conditions, like Dhaka, would be very tough on the players. But it has been overcast since morning and locals believe that we may see some drizzle during the Test match.

Drizzle or bright sunshine, Indians would be just hoping to make merry.