Openers Gautam Gambhir [ Images ] and Wasim Jaffer [ Images ] appear to have been made the sacrificial lambs in the soap-opera involving Sourav Ganguly [ Images ].

The former India [ Images ] captain, who was controversially left out of the third Test against Sri Lanka [ Images ] at Ahmedabad [ Images ] and then included in the Pakistan tour squad after he made an air-dash to Delhi [ Images ] to meet BCCI President Sharad Pawar [ Images ], was included as an opener in the opening Test against Pakistan in Lahore [ Images ] on Friday.

Speculation was rife on Thursday that Ganguly would be included in the playing eleven but skipper Rahul Dravid [ Images ] chose to keep the matter a secret, saying he would not reveal the playing eleven as he wanted to keep the opposition guessing.

"I have made the decision about the composition of the team and I know what I am doing," was his reply when a question was asked about Ganguly.

But the inclusion of the Bengal stalwart in the team was not at the expense of the performing Yuvraj Singh [ Images ] but Jaffer who probably would have got the nod ahead of Gambhir but for the Ganguly factor.

The official version given by team media manager G S Walia about the inclusion of Ganguly was that the tour selectors made the decision after having a look at the wicket and opted for two spinners.

However, the talk here is that there was pressure from the Board's bigwigs to include the former captain as a balancing act in their ongoing fight with Cricket Association of Bengal chief Jagmohan Dalmiya, who has backed Ganguly to the hilt on quite a few occasions when he got into trouble with International Cricket Council [ Images ] and later when he was axed from the team.

BCCI chief Sharad Pawar is here to watch the match along with secretary Niranjan Shah and former president Inderjit Singh Bindra.