Left arm seamer Ashish Nehra says coach Greg Chappell is right in giving youngsters an opportunity to prove themselves, but senior players who have been left out of the team should be given priority if they consistently prove their fitness and form.
He said he does not see any ulterior motive in Baroda pacer Zaheer Khan or any other "senior player" being kept out of the Indian team.
"He wants good players to come in and be given an opportunity. Nobody is permanent in the team. Senior bowlers like Zaheer Khan, if they do well, should be picked. If not now, later," he said.
"There is nothing personal with Zaheer Khan. I don't think anyone has a problem with Zaheer. If he is fit and picks wickets, he will be back."
The left-arm speedster said he is targetting the Pakistan series early next year for a comeback into the Indian team after a 'niggle' that has put him out of action for the past two months.
Nehra, who returned home at the end of the tri-series in Zimbabwe and missed the two Tests against the African nation with a lower back injury, said he does not foresee himself playing in the Test series against Sri Lanka next month.
The Delhi pacer said he would be available for the state team from the third game for the Ranji Trophy competition, which he would use to attain 100 percent fitness and form to stake claim for a place in the Indian squad.
"I am getting better. I haven't started to bowl yet; I would start doing that in 10 days' time from now. I would be playing the third match in the Ranji Trophy.
"I am looking forward to the Pakistan tour. I don't think I will be completely back to my best before that. I will be playing two or three matches during the Sri Lanka series," he said.
Nehra said he began training six weeks ago and has been running and sprinting, but is "yet to touch the ball".
"For a fast bowler it is not advisable to play straight away in Tests. You need those 30-40 overs to get the rhythm. And on pitches like in Pakistan, you need to be 100 percent fit," he said.
Nehra should know better. After undergoing surgery on his ankle soon after the 2003 World Cup, he was eased directly into the one-day squad and went for 60-odd runs as he bowled his 10 overs on the trot in a tri-series match against Australia at Bangalore.
"Yes, I said after the match I should have played some domestic matches and I did play some."
Nehra, however, is aware that the scenario vis-a-vis the Indian team has changed drastically in the two months he had been away, and that it is not going to be easy for him to stake claim for the Test or ODI team.
"It is never easy to get back into the national team. And it is not just me. If someone like Sourav Ganguly can be left out after scoring runs [in domestic cricket] ... everyone has been performing, so it is going to be tough," he said.
He took pride in the fact that he had never been out of the Indian squad ever since the 2003 World Cup until now.
"In the last 18 months I had not missed an ODI. I have not played that many Tests but that is because mostly they were played at home. And on Indian wickets, at times, we have played with one fast bowler," he said.
"I have never been really dropped from the Indian squad. I have always been in the 15 if not in the playing 11.
"Out of the 35 one-dayers, I missed just two or three of them. And I have been the highest wicket-taker, I was the best bowler during this period."
Statistics tell an interesting story of the three left arm seamers of the Indian team.
Nehra and Pathan run each other close in wickets and averages in the last 30 matches they played, but the 21-year old from Baroda has better figures as the number of matches played goes up.