Hughes and Siddle in Boxing Day squad

has won a recall to the Australian squad and is on standby for Ricky Ponting while Peter Siddle has also been included in the 13-man outfit for the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan. Hughes has not played a Test since being dropped after two games in the Ashes series, but the opening batsman has convinced Andrew Hilditch's panel he is the man to replace Ponting if he does not recover in time from the left elbow problem he suffered in Perth.

Ponting, who was struck trying to duck a Kemar Roach short ball, hopes to play but the selectors are being cautious after a run of injures. The physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said Ponting, who has been in a hyperbaric chamber to speed up the healing, was having on-going treatment for the problem. "We'll need to wait until he bats at training later in the week to determine his fitness for the Test," Kountouris said.

Siddle missed the Perth win with a hamstring strain but will play a domestic one-dayer for Victoria on Wednesday to build up his fitness. Clint McKay, who debuted at the WACA, holds his place while Ben Hilfenhaus misses out again following a knee problem that ruled him out of the final two Tests against West Indies.

"Ben bowled eight overs in club cricket on Saturday," Kountouris said. "However, after bowling again at training on Sunday, he reported knee pain once again." Kountouris predicted Hilfenhaus would need a "more extensive rehabilitation" before he overcame the problem.

Phillip Hughes Hughes scored 122 in the first innings of New South Wales' Sheffield Shield game on Saturday, but fell for 7 today in an innings that didn't change the thoughts of the selectors. He has scored 403 runs in nine Shield innings and re-found his form this month following a difficult period when it seemed he was unsure whether to follow his natural instincts or conform.

After scoring two centuries in his second Test, Hughes was set for a long stay in the side, but he was removed following troubles with the short ball and Andrew Flintoff in England. Shane Watson came into the team and if Hughes plays at the MCG there is likely to be some serious reshuffling to the order. Some of the options include Hughes, Simon Katich or Michael Clarke batting at three, while Watson could move down to the middle order.

Australia squad Shane Watson, Simon Katich, Phillip Hughes, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Marcus North, Brad Haddin (wk), Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Peter Siddle, Clint McKay, Doug

Siddle out, Chanderpaul, Barath and Hauritz in doubt

Australia and West Indies have both been hit by a series of injuries the day before the third Test in Perth, with Peter Siddle ruled out, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Adrian Barath unlikely, and Nathan Hauritz also in doubt. The problems have left Australia with one confirmed debutant, the Victoria fast bowler Clint McKay, who will replace his state team-mate Siddle.

Siddle was under a cloud during the week after suffering a strain to his left hamstring in Adelaide and on Tuesday he woke up with some soreness following a lengthy spell in the WACA nets the previous day. It was enough for the Australians to err on the side of caution and Siddle, who will fly home to Melbourne, will aim to be available for the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan.

"The deal was that for him to come up here and play this game it would have to be a seamless period and have no pain, no stiffness, no feeling at all of anything wrong," Australia's physio Alex Kountouris said. "He bowled yesterday and this morning he woke up and it's a little bit stiff."

It means a definite debut for McKay, while the Tasmania fast bowler Brett Geeves, who was added as a 13th man in the squad, is also a chance to play if Hauritz fails to recover from a finger injury. Hauritz took a blow to the finger while fielding at training on Tuesday and although he did bowl afterwards, he suffered some soreness and will not know his fate until the morning of the match.

The selectors are considering flying in an extra spinner as cover, and their options will include Jason Krejza, who last year struggled against South Africa at the WACA and duly lost his place. However, Ricky Ponting said such a replacement would not necessarily step straight into the starting line-up.

"There'll be a chance of that," Ponting said of a four-man pace attack. "Geeves flew in last night and trained with us this morning. There'll be that possibility but I've said for a while it's always my preference to go into a Test match with a specialist spin bowler but we'll wait and see what happens."

West Indies are likely to have two changes with the key batsmen Chanderpaul and Barath both in serious doubt. Chanderpaul is still struggling with a finger problem after being struck on the hand in Adelaide, while Barath hurt his hamstring during the second Test. Travis Dowlin is expected to come in and open with Chris Gayle in place of Barath, while Chanderpaul's spot is likely to be taken by Narsingh Deonarine.

"It's not looking too good but we'll see what happens tomorrow," Gayle said. "Those two guys are the worry for us right now. It's a big blow going into the final Test match but having said that whoever gets that opportunity, hopefully they will make the best use of it."

Sri Lanka bowl without Murali and Malinga

Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to have a bowl on a lightly-grassed pitch in Rajkot. Without the flu-stricken Lasith Malinga and with Muttiah Muralitharan not deemed fit enough, it was a gamble of sorts, especially against an Indian side strengthened by the return of Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh, who were rested for the two Twenty20 games.

There was also a recall for Praveen Kumar, who played no part in the Twenty20 games. Sri Lanka also tinkered with their batting line-up, opting to open with Upul Tharanga and leaving Sanath Jayasuriya to bat in middle order, where he first started nearly 20 years ago.

Yuvraj Singh missed out with a finger injury sustained in the last Twenty20 game, and there was an opportunity for Virat Kohli to press his claims. The onus though was clearly on India's top order to combat the early movement and prevent the sort of batting debacle that cost them the recent series against Australia in Guwahati.

India had a formidable recent record against Sri Lanka in recent times, but with a 9am start, Chanaka Welegedara, Nuwan Kulasekara and Dilhara Fernando had a chance to even the scores.

India: 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Praveen Kumar, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Ashish Nehra.

Sri Lanka: 1 Kumar Sangakkara (capt & wk), 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Thilan Samaraweera, 6 Thilina Kandamby, 7 Sanath Jayasuriya, 8 Angelo Mathews, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Dilhara Fernando, 11Chanaka Welegedara.

NZ openers steady chasing 208

Tea New Zealand 46 for 0 (Watling 27*, McIntosh 13*) and 471 need 162 runs to beat Pakistan 223 and 455 (Yousuf 89, Umar 77)

Chasing a target of 208 from a minimum of 43 overs, New Zealand took the safety-first route and sent in the regular openers who eased them to 46 without loss at tea on the final day in Napier. Kamran Akmal had earlier led Pakistan's resistance after the departure of Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal to stretch the lead to 207.

It was an enthralling day's play; Pakistan were nervous and edgy in defence, New Zealand were patient and did not over attack. Pakistan adopted the go-slow approach but since it's not a game that comes naturally to their players, it was absorbing to watch. The moment that captured their dilemma came when Akmal hit a four and shook his head, seemingly unhappy about his shot selection. It was a stunning hit over extra cover; he knifed through the line of a length delivery from Chris Martin and as the camera panned on him, he was shaking his head and admonishing himself. It was a risky shot in the context of the game, with the team trying to secure a safe lead before thinking of anything beyond and he knew it. However, the shot was a natural, almost reflexive, reaction from an attacking batsman and it was that kind of a battle that Umar and Misbah too fought without success.

Misbah's failing was greater than that of Umar for he was not only the more experienced but also some one who can, in theory, play the patient game more easily. And he had started well, nudging, pushing and leaving anything that he didn't have to play. However New Zealand kept closing in on him with their relentless discipline and you could sense a feeling of claustrophobia setting in. And the brain freeze eventually came when he faced up to Daniel Vettori for the first time in the day. He went for an almighty heave - his critics would call it a dirty old slog - missed it completely, and was done in by a quick stumping from Brendon McCullum with his back foot still on the line.

Unlike yesterday, Umar was more sedate this morning. Iain O'Brien and the close-in fielders teased him to have a go but he carried on with his defensive approach. Occasionally, though, the impishness in him threatened to crack open the lid of self-control. There was a hoick against O'Brien and a couple of plays and misses but no damage was done till he came up against the new ball, when he feathered an edge to McCullum. A brain freeze by Mohammad Aamer at the stroke of lunch threw open all possibilities yet again. It was the third ball of the last over before the break and with several close-in men hovering around him, an under-pressure Aamer, who had played out 52 balls with caution until then, went for the big shot against Vettori and holed out at deep midwicket. Kamran tried his best to ensure that a Pakistan loss was taken out of the equation but he was eventually left stranded and at tea, anything was still possible.