For the last few days, the participation of chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar in the selection committee meeting in Bangalore on Wednesday had been shrouded in uncertainty. But on Tuesday, the former Indian skipper expressed his willingness to attend the meeting, after the Board of Control for Cricket in India softened its stand on issues raised by him.

Vengsarkar had talks with Board president Sharad Pawar, who promised that BCCI would look into the ‘legitimate demands’ raised by the chief selector on BCCI’s guidelines for selectors. “I have decided to attend the meeting in Bangalore with the interest of cricket in mind,” Vengsarkar said.

Pawar, speaking at a press conference in New Delhi, said BCCI’s working committee meeting had been convened on December 16 in Mumbai to look into Vengsarkar’s demands, including compensation for not writing columns.

“Actually there is a legal problem and we can’t pay the selectors who are our elected office bearers. Vengsarkar himself is an elected vice-president of Mumbai Cricket Association, while the case is the same with Sanjay Jagdale (Madhya Pradesh) and Ranjib Biswal (Orissa), who are office-bearers with their respective state associations. “His (Vengsarkar) is a legitimate demand and we want to compensate too but we can’t violate the law. So we have convened a working committee and office bearers’ meeting on 16th to find a way out,” Pawar said.

Vengsarkar had returned mid-way through the second Test against Pakistan in Kolkata, sighting a bereavement in his family.

With Vengsarkar confirming his participation, the focus will once again be on cricket-related issues, with the team for the third Test and also the tour of Australia to be picked on Wednesday. It is unlikely that Kerala paceman S Sreesanth, still recovering from a shoulder injury that he suffered in the Jaipur one-dayer, will play in the Bangalore Test, beginning on Saturday. Uttar Pradesh paceman Rudra Pratap Singh seems to have recovered from his injury and he will be in the running for a berth in the team.

For the Australian tour, names of Munaf Patel, part of the current Test squad, pacemen VRV Singh, Ishant Sharma and Ajit Agarkar, all-rounder Irfan Pathan and Delhi opener Gautam Gambhir are likely to come up for discussion. On the captaincy front, no change is expected with Anil Kumble set to continue as skipper of the Test squad for the Australian tour.