The selectors, though, picked Jadeja on the condition that he was declared fully fit by the NCA. It is learned that Jadeja started to bowl and bat from earlier this week, but will need to take fitness tests before he gets the nod to play competitive cricket. Keeping in mind Jadeja's rustiness - not only has he not played any cricket since September, but his previous first-class match was the one-off Test at Edgbaston against England last July - the selectors along with the NCA and the Indian team management agreed the allrounder should play in the Ranji game before taking a call on his participation in the Australia Test series.

While they are mindful about the risks of rushing Jadeja back, the selectors also do not want to deprive India of his match-winning abilities, which he proved during Australia's previous Test series in India in 2016-17.

The result of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is significant for both India and Australia because both are frontrunners to contest the World Test Championship final in June which is scheduled at The Oval. India need to win the series to make the final, which will make them the first team to feature in the summit clash of both editions of WTC.

Both teams will have their own preparatory camps ahead of the first Test with the Australians in Bengaluru while the Indians will be in Nagpur between February 1-5.

Additional reporting from Sidharth Monga