Lot at stake for Test hopefuls

By G. Viswanath

NAGPUR, FEB. 16. The Aussies have been very smart. They have kept themselves extremely busy to overcome jet lag and adjust to the Indian time zone. In less than 48 hours since they set foot on Indian soil, they have not let the bright and warm day pass without showing their resolve and commitment at two net sessions in Mumbai and here at Nagpur.

Australia, which will take on India `A,' in the opening match of the tour, was the only team at the VCA ground on Friday. ``It's been good so far, the travelling, the reception, the crowd and the practice sessions,'' said Waugh. The Australian captain after receiving the Allan Border award had said that the medal and the achievements would not count if the team doesn't win the Test series in India.

He gave clarity to the `India Matters' theme at his second press conference outside the Australian dressing room. ``It's just my way of motivating the side. we want to make sure that we are ready for this series. It's a challenge because we have not won here for 31 years. We are certainly not putting too much pressure on ourselves. We expect to play well and we expect to win.''

Talking of pressure he added: ``There is always pressure when you are playing for the country. That's what it's all about. We enjoy that sort of pressure. It has been very hard to get the team to this position (15 Test match wins in a row) in the last two years. We are playing good cricket. We are probably having the best allround batting side in the world. We have scored runs consistently in the last couple of years. We should be good enough to adjust to the conditions in India.''

Australia will go in to the match without ace fast bowler Glenn McGrath, leg spinning wizard Shane Warne and Mark Waugh. ``We have not dropped any one. We are going to give a game to every player, an opportunity before the first Test. We are pleased that we are going to play a good side. There are three top order Indian batsmen - Das, Ramesh and Laxman - in the India `A' team. They will be trying hard to score runs in this match. So for us, it is going to be a quality match,'' said Waugh.

The Australians began their practice session with a short game of football, one to one and group catching sessions before batsmen and bowlers moved to the net area. They had the entire ground at their disposal, Waugh actually was batting in the nets provided for India `A,' whose players will reach the city by the late evening flight.

The chairman of the national selection committee Mr. Chandu Borde while announcing the team in Mumbai had hinted that batsman Khoda, medium pacer Zaman and leg spinner Balaji Rao will be left out. Which means that Laxman will have four specialist bowlers in Debasish Mohanty, Ashish Nehra and spinners Harbhajan Singh and Rahul Sanghvi. The Indian team for the first Test will be selected in Mumbai on February 20 and nothing short of a spectacular performance will earn a place for one among the four in the fourteen member squad.

The score sheet of the last international match here between India and Zimbabwe last November would not be a source of inspiration for them. Andrew Flower scored a century and a double, Sachin Tendulkar scored a double and Shiv Sundar Das, Rahul Dravid and Alistair Campbell, all made centuries.

It was a batsman's paradise. So Das will have happy memories when he takes guard at a venue where he made his first Test hundred. Even in the event of his not coming good, Das will have the advantage of having faced the Aussie pace trio in Jason Gillespie, Damien Fleming and Michael Kasprowicz. The same goes for the likes of Ramesh, Laxman, Hemang Badani, Mohammad Kaif and Dinesh Mongia.

lThe teams: Australia: Steve Waugh (Captain), Michael Slater, Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting, Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist, Colin Miller, Damien Fleming, Jason Gillespie, Michael Kasprowicz; Reserves: Mark Waugh, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath.

India `A' (from): V. V. S. Laxman (Captain), Sadagopan Ramesh, Shiv Sundar Das, Hemang Badani, Mohd. Kaif, Dinesh Mongia, Nayan Mongia, Asish Nehra, Debasish Mohanty, Harbhajan Singh, Rahul Sanghvi, Gagan Khoda, Javed Zaman, Balaji Rao.

Umpires: Messrs. Dr. B. K. Sadashiv and S. V. Ramani.

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