Clarke should recover but Australia will be keen the virus does not spread

Australia are sweating on the fitness of vice-captain Michael Clarke ahead of Thursday's first Test against India.

Team officials said Clarke should recover from a stomach virus in time for the match in Bangalore.

The Australians chose to omit Phil Jaques from their 12 and will open with Matthew Hayden and Simon Katich.

India cut their 15-man squad to 13, batsman Subramaniam Badrinath and seamer Rudra Pratap Singh missing out.

Clarke is a key part of the Australia side for the four-Test series as he is one of their best players of spin and a slow bowler.

Australia's lack of experienced spin bowlers, and their batsmen's perceived weakness against spin, could give India the crucial edge to win the series.

The world number one side, who beat India 2-1 in an acrimonious home series earlier this year, had to call up Cameron White after leg-spinner Bryce McGain pulled out of the tour through injury, while off-spinner Jason Krejza struggled badly in a warm-up match.

Instead, Australia will be relying on their pace attack of Brett Lee, Stuart Clark and Mitchell Johnson to work through India's formidable batting line-up.

India can go second to Australia - and above South Africa - in the ICC Test Championship if they win the series by a two-Test margin.

TMS: BLOG Australia's bowling attack - with spin options rapidly running out - looks weaker than at any time since the 1980s BBC Sport's Oliver Brett

The news came after all-rounder Shane Watson sat out the drawn tour opener in Hyderabad with a chest infection.

Captain Ricky Ponting, meanwhile, is desperate to end a poor run of form in India, with his eight previous Tests there giving him an average score of 12.28.

In the famous 2001 series, Harbhajan Singh had him caught off bat and pad from his first delivery to Ponting.

I have to be strong and stick to what I know is going to work Ricky Ponting

"The reason for my poor performance was that I didn't trust myself. I didn't trust my technique.

"I ended up getting stumped, caught at bat-pad sweeping. I tried almost everything and nothing worked. Every time I tried something, I got out pretty soon after.

"I have spoken to a lot of guys this week about working out a style you think is going to work for you. I have to be strong and stick to what I know is going to work."

India's veteran left-handed batsman Sourav Ganguly, controversially selected for the first two Tests at least, has announced he will retire from international cricket at the end of the series.

The former captain will be desperate to finish in style but he goes into the first Test in poor form. He failed to get the big score he was looking for as India A crashed to a 133-run defeat against New Zealand A in a four-day match in Chennai.

Fellow veteran Sachin Tendulkar, 35, starts the series needing only 77 runs to overtake Brian Lara as Test cricket's leading scorer.

The series will be of particular interest to England, who face India in a two-Test series in November and take on Australia next summer.

India (from): Anil Kumble (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Mahendra Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Amit Mishra.

Australia (from): Ricky Ponting (capt), Matthew Hayden, Simon Katich, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin (wkt), Brett Lee, Stuart Clark, Mitchell Johnson, Cameron White, Jason Krejza.