Australia drop top shots; India to play the best team

Australia drop top shots; India to play the best team
ROHIT JOSHI

INDORE, MARCH 30: Even Saurav Ganguly couldn’t believe it when a very patriotic journalist wispered to him just before he began to address the press that Australia had left out Mark Waugh, Mathew Hayden and Glenn McGrath for the third One-Day International, to be played here at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Saturday.

‘‘It can’t be...’’ he said instinctively, and then drifted off pensively. Yet he, and coach John Wright, maintained that it would not make any difference to their gameplan, and they would pick their best team, and left the decision to Saturday morning.

‘‘It’s a tough itinerary,’’ Wright said, ‘‘and they probably want to rest a few players. They have been following this policy for some time now, but we will pick our best team, even if it means that same players play all five games it’s tough but that’s the way we do it.’’

Ganguly said much the same thing, but added: ‘‘Still, I’m looking forward tothe eleven they give me tomorrow morning,’’ almost believing it could be a ruse to influence his strategy.

Vice-captain Adam Gilghrist, who addressed the press before the Indians, insisted there was no message they were trying to send to the Indians by dropping players en masse who have been their heavy performers in the two one-dayers.

‘‘Basically we work on a rotational basis. We have a strong squad and don’t lose anything by leaving any player out,’’ he said. Gilchrist said that the “sore little finger” was not the reason for dropping Mark Waugh. And as Hayden too wouldn’t be there for the tomorrow’s game, the Aussies will have a new opening pair. Gilchrist said they had several options himself, Darren Lehmann, Damien Martyn, Andrew Symonds but said he would see the ‘‘situation in the morning’’ before deciding who would open the innings.

The Indians are all reported to be fit, even Hemang Badani who suffered dehyderation in Pune, and Rahul Dravid, who had a swelling in the shin. About the form of Ganguly, who has yet to show his golden touch with the bat, Wright took it upon himself to answer the query.

‘‘Ganguly is a class player. He is still the best one-day player in the world. It happens to everybody, everyone has his phase when things don’t go right. He just needs 20 or 30 runs on the bat and things will fall into place,’’ Wright said.The loss at Pune too has not caused any undue worry to the team management.

Ganguly said: ‘‘Two top teams are playing, the difference between the two is very little and the level of competition is very high and both are playing to win. There will be ups and downs.’’

And Wright declared: ‘‘It is going to be a close series.’’

The wicked wicket on which the last game between India and Sri Lanka in 1997 was abandoned after just 18 balls were bowled after being declared dangerous for players, has been dug up and a new one laid on top of it, and everyone thinks it is a batting beauty.

Gilchrist said it would behave pretty much like any other Indian wicket, good for batting and getting ‘‘slower and lower’’ in the second innings. Ganguly too thought it would assist batting. ‘‘It looks like a good track, though the outfield is hard and rough.’’ the Indian skipper said.

The weather on Saturday morning was cloudy and cool, and the curator Samardar Sigh Chauhan said it would likely be the same on Saturday morning, assisting the seamers in the first hour.

The last international game here a three-dayer between Zimbabwe and the National Cricket Academy in October last year yielded over 1200 runs. But India’s record at the ground is poor with just one victory in six matches played here.

They have beaten only New Zealand by 53 runs in 1988 and lost to Australia, Pakistan and West Indies. The match against Zimbabwe in the Hero Cup in 193 was tied, and the sixth abandoned. India have not won here for 13 years, since the 1988 victory.

Australia have played thrice on this ground, losing one and winnig two. They lost to South Africa in the 1996 Titan Cup and beat New Zealand and India in the other two games.

The teams
India: Saurav Ganguly (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Hemang Badani, Dinesh Mongia, Vijay Dahiya, Sunil Joshi, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Javagal Srinath, Ajit Agarkar, Robin Singh, Yuvraj Singh. Coach: John Wright.

Australia: Steve Waugh (capt), Adam Gilchrist, Michael Bevan, Nathan Bracken, Damien Flemming, Shane Lee, Ian Harvey, Darren Lehmann, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Ricky Ponting, Andrew Symonds, Shane Warne, Mark Waugh, Mathew Hayden. Coach: John Buchanan.
Umpires: Hari Haran, Vijay Chopra.
Third umpire: Suhas Phadkar. Match referee: Cammie Smith.