Australians aiming for victory No. 17: Warne

By Vijay Lokapally

KOLKATA, MARCH 9. Great place. Great stadium. Lovely people. Shane Warne was praising the wonderful cricket fans of this enchanting city.

There was colour in the air and cricket on the streets as people celebrated the festival of Holi. The usually crowded roads had been transformed into cricket fields and the action was captured by an Australian television crew even as the cricketers engaged themselves in a serious drill at the Eden Gardens, all decked up for the exciting event.

``How do you recognise the guys mate'' quipped one cricketer as he boarded the bus after a gruelling practice session, surrounded by fans with smiling faces painted in all hues, a reminder of the festival. The Australians too are out to paint the city with another cricket triumph on their mind.

The Indians also had a long session in the afternoon. Even as the players trooped out sapped, one noticed disappointment on the face of Sourav Ganguly. His own batting form remains to be sorted out and now the added burden of Rahul Dravid being unsure of playing the second Test. Dravid was down with a sore throat and fever too, leaving him drained in the hotel bed. The doctor will assess his condition on Saturday evening before deciding on his fate as far as this match is concerned.

The jovial Warne was assigned the duty of facing the media on Friday and he presented a picture of confidence. He left the scribes impressed with his confidence, his performance impeccable and in keeping with his craft on the field.

The questions revolved around the state of the pitch. Would it favour pace and bounce or please the slow men. Warne was forthcoming. ``There is a little bit of grass I suppose. Looks like a very good wicket. A good batting pitch.''

Later Ganguly endorsed the view. ``It looks a good batting surface.'' He stopped in his track and insisted ``we have had no say in the preparation of the pitch. It is what they have prepared and we will play on it. No complaints.''

Warne, however, had struck a warning. ``There could be something early on for the quicks. Srinath bowled a good spell the last time we were here. He got the ball through really well. India had a great game here the last time three years ago.'' He sure has good memory and it was a comforting thought for the Aussies that the Karnataka speedster was not here.

Someone wanted Warne to talk about the stadium. ``It's a nice place to play cricket. The outfield looks beautiful. It's a lot greener than the last time. The wicket looks a good wicket. I am sure everybody is pretty excited to play here. It looks a great stadium. Lots of people who make lots of noise, obviously supporting the home team as it happens the world over. Fantastic atmosphere to play cricket.''

Any apprehensions of crowd behaviour at the stadium. ``No, not at all. No apprehensions of the crowd behaviour. Wherever we go the Indians treat us very well. They like the way we play our cricket. They like the way we go about our cricket. I think they want to see good cricket. Hopefully this Test match should give them good cricket on this wicket.''

Warne noted the pitch may ``turn a bit at the end. Looks like a pretty good cricket wicket.'' But Indian offie Harbhajan Singh rated it a placid track while opener S. Ramesh and V.V.S. Laxman agreed there was more in it for the batsmen. Laxman conveyed the mood of the team, ``we may not look aggressive but that is because we keep our emotions in check. We are as determined as the Australians.''

Having cast his spell at Mumbai, Warne has given clear signals of his prowess. He reacted firmly when he said he had nothing to prove. ``Yes, I have got nothing to prove really. We are all trying to win. There's a lot riding on this Test match for us. Our way is to try and win. It will be our first series win in India for a long time. We are going to approach this as the first one at Mumbai. Try and win. Keep the winning record going. Keep the roll going. If you look at the last two games we got something out of it. Today's session was good intensity. Everything is going pretty nicely.''

The emphasis is on winning obviously and the wily leggie admits to it. ``I suppose it is something we don't speak about a lot but it's always at the back of the mind. To keep it going. At the moment we are not really talking about it. If we keep going like we did in the first Test I am sure we will keep winning.''

Warne is gearing up for the job. ``I am looking forward to taking wickets. I didn't play the last game. I thought I bowled very well at Mumbai in the Test match. I thought I did a great job of keeping the pressure on one end. I bowled nice and tight from one end. The ball was coming up very well. From my personal point of view, I am looking forward to this match. The Indians play the spinners well. I have said it before. Here it won't be different.''

Looking at the forthcoming match, Warne said, ``it would be nice to get a big score and bowl last. But we might even bowl first too.''

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