Confident Karn Sharma awaits his chance Down Under

On November 3, the day before the Indian selectors were originally scheduled to pick the Indian squad for Test series in Australia, former India captain Rahul Dravid picked his own 16 while speaking to ESPNcricinfo. Saying it was time for selectors to be brave, Dravid raised a few eyebrows by favouring Railways legspinner Karn Sharma over Ravindra Jadeja, the left-arm spinner.

Later that evening, when told Dravid preferred him as a spin partner to R Ashwin, Karn was a little tongue-tied. At the time Karn was training with the Railways squad, which was preparing for the central zone leg of the Vijay Hazare Trophy domestic one-day tournament. "I am a little bit nervous," he confessed. With the selection meeting scheduled for the following day, Karn admitted he might find it hard to sleep.

That selection meeting was postponed by the BCCI. A week later, though, the selectors backed Dravid's decision by picking Karn for the four-Test series starting from December 4. Now, Karn was relaxed. Lounging in the spacious dressing room at Jamtha in Nagpur after his 3 for 47 against Madhya Pradesh in the Vijay Hazare tournament, he read of his selection while browsing the internet. "I am very happy that I have got an opportunity to play in Tests for India," Karn told ESPNcricinfo. "Let us see if I get a chance or not, but I am prepared. I will try my level best to prove myself."