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Conditions ideal for Ricky Ponting’s men to perform

— Photo: K. Ramesh Babu

HOPING FOR A GOOD KNOCK: It would augur well for Australia if skipper Ricky Ponting, practising on the eve of the four-day match against the Board President’s XI, comes up with a big score on a wicket that is near-perfect for batting.

HYDERABAD: Conditions are near-perfect for Ricky Ponting’s Australians to get the much-needed match practice against a quality opposition when they take on Board President’s XI in a four-day match at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here from Thursday.

If Ponting had his reservations about the wicket prepared for the two-day practice mach in Jaipur, the conditions in Hyderabad might just be what he has been looking for.

“The pitch seems to be a very nice one and should be good for batting at least for the first two days,” said Australian coach Tim Nielsen.

The visitors are determined to have a long session in the middle against an attack which has two quality spinners in its line-up — Piyush Chawla and local hero Pragyan Ojha.

“It should be a great opportunity for us to get a feel of what will be in store for us in the Test series,” said Nielsen.

He revealed that leg-spinner Bryce McGain has been ruled out for this match and the first Test because of a shoulder injury and hinted that this could push off-spinner Jason Kraje into the frontline spinner’s role.

“He should try to be relaxed out there and enjoy the opportunity of bowling to some quality batsmen,” said Nielsen said.

Shane Watson is down with temperature and the Aussies will assess his progress over the next 24 hours.

Given his poor Test record in India, it should not surprise many if Ponting displays the enthusiasm of a young contender and comes up with a big score.

He would like to go into the Test series with a big score to boost his confidence.

While the contenders in the visiting side would be looking for big performances to stake their claim for the first Test starting on October 9 in Bangalore, it may be the other way round for their opponents since the Indian team has already been named.

Yuvraj Singh, the captain of President’s XI, believes that the players should look at selection in the long run. “Even if you are not there, a strong performance will enhance your chances for there can be some changes anytime in the series. If I come up with a big score I don’t see why I should not come back.

“And, to be a strong contender, you have to use this opportunity of playing against such a formidable Australian team. For me this is a chance to do well and stake my claim in the Test squad,” said Yuvraj while acknowledging that he was working on some flaws in his batting.

The teams (from):

Board President’s XI: Yuvraj Singh (capt.), S. Badrinath (vice-capt.), Wasim Jaffer, Aakash Chopra, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Piyush Chawla, Rakesh Dhruv, Pragyan Ojha, Parthiv Patel (wicket-keeper), Yogesh Takawale, Manpreet Gony, Pankaj Singh and Irfan Pathan. Coach: Pravin Amre.

Australia: Ricky Ponting (capt.), Mathew Hayden, Simon Katich, Brad Haddin (wicket-keeper), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Stuart Clark, Mitchell Johnson, Jason Kraje, Bryce McGain, Shane Watson, Doug Bollinger, Phil Jacques, Brett Lee and Peter Siddle. Coach: Tim Nielsen. Assistant coach: Greg Chappell.

Umpires: Amish Saheba and Shahvir Tarapore. Third umpire: Sidhir Asnani. Match referee: Manu Nayyar.

Hours of play: 9.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m., 12.10 to 2.10 p.m. and 2.30 p.m. onwards.

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