Dhoni puts India first

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is expected to lead India in the first Test against England

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni insisted his country would come before any Champions League riches should there be a fixture clash in the build-up to the opening Test against England in Ahmedabad.

Dhoni is the only player from either squad who is involved in next month's lucrative Champions League Twenty20 tournament with the Chennai Super Kings.

He could face a possible fixture clash should his side reach the Champions League final on December 10, just 24 hours before the start of the two-Test series.

Dhoni, speaking before tomorrow's third match in the seven-match one-day series at Green Park, said: "I think your country must come first.

He added: "It should always be that the Test match is put first.

"We are not thinking about the games ahead at this moment, we are only thinking about this series. We are not even thinking about the fourth and fifth games so the Champions League is way off yet."

Before Dhoni links up with Chennai for the start of that tournament, he will hope to have secured a comfortable series win over England having won convincingly in the first two matches.

Seamer Ishant Sharma, who won man-of-the-series for his performances in the Test series against Australia, missed those two games after being rested for a slight ankle complaint and may return tomorrow.

"He's 100 per cent fit and has bowled a long spell in the nets so he's available for selection," confirmed Dhoni. "He's a bowler who is always there even when he's tired, we've seen that in Test matches when he comes back for a third spell.

"He bowls with the same amount of effort whenever you give him the ball. It is great but at the same time you have to take care of players like this. He's only 20 years old and he's got a long career ahead of him so it's very important to give him rest."

Sharma is likely to replace left-arm seamer RP Singh, who was hit for 49 runs in just five overs during Monday's 54-runs triumph in Indore.