Date:10/06/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/06/10/stories/2008061060151900.htm

Sport - Cricket

The boys are geared up and intense: Kirsten

Special Correspondent

Dhaka: The India cricket coach, Gary Kirsten, expected key batsman Virender Sehwag to recover from a bout of cold and fever. He said here on Monday, “Viru should be okay for tomorrow. Everybody else is fit and fine.”

Kirsten looked forward to Tuesday’s big duel.

“Every India-Pakistan game is a great match. The boys are geared up and intense. We saw how the wicket behaved in the last game and very much know what to do,” he said.

On the transition the cricketers had to make from Twenty20 to ODI cricket, he said, “We need to make sure that our game-plans and strategies are designed for 50-over cricket.”

The Indian coach dwelt on the rotation of the cricketers in the days of almost non-stop cricket.

“It answers why the selectors have chosen a pretty young side for this competition. I think it’s going to be important as we move on in the years to come to have a group of 15-20 players who are equally good to play for India,” he said.

Close affair

Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson said a total of 300 was gettable and chaseable on the surface. He expected the India-Pakistan match to be a close affair.

“I would be surprised if there is a big margin of victory for either team,” he said.

He was looking forward to Pakistan maintaining its winning ODI run. “We are taking one match at a time,” he said.