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 captain, who was controversially left out of the third Test against Sri Lanka [Images] at Ahmedabad and then included in the Pakistan tour squad after he made an air-dash to Delhi 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 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.