Plans up his sleeve, Kirsten perches himself in Perth

Inside the city, it’s the Swan river that flows by and much of the wildlife and mineral resources lie on the south. But the real action lies in the north — to be precise, at the WACA ground.

The Indian team arrived here this afternoon to restart their Test campaign here 10 days after the controversial Sydney episode, and 16 years after their last five-day match, hoping that they will be able to shine through in this city that claims to enjoy the maximum sunshine than any other city in Australia.

An important visitor was awaiting the Indian team’s arrival at its team hotel: an excited Gary Kirsten along with his wife, Deborah, interacted with the players. After a little while, Deborah just watched her husband slip into the mode that is expected to be the norm soon.

The team enjoyed a relaxed evening, getting to sample the great cuisine and wines. But Kumble had a busy schedule, with another appointment with a caller on his phone. It was Michael Clarke, the Australian captain-in-waiting, did manage to get through to Kumble finally after admitting to have been trying him for the past few days.

The Australian batsman seems to have sorted out the contentious issues raised by the Indian skipper after the acrimonious Sydney Test. During his talk with Kumble, the Australian middle-order bat had broached the two issues that the Indian skipper had raised in a newspaper column.

“I spoke to Anil and he was actually very supportive and understood me,” Clarke said.

Kumble had slammed Clarke for dishonesty and cited the latter’s standing his ground after being clearly caught in the slips when he was yet to open account in Australia’s second innings, and his claiming a controversial low catch to remove Sourav Ganguly on the final day of the Test.

... contd.