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 Brisbane, Nov 29: Ace leg-spinner Anil Kumble, after his four wickets on the opening day against Queensland Academy of Sports, felt good to have a long bowl at the Allan Border Field today. "It felt good to get back to your rhythm and bowl 20 overs. I'm sure I am in contention for selection in the 11 for the first Test," Kumble said.
The 33-year-old agreed the fast bowlers were a bit inconsistent in their first spells and put it down to little cricket by his team in recent times. "I'm sure we would have loved to have a lot of wickets with the new ball. We started off well but unfortunately didn't keep it going.
"We would love to be consistent but everyone is playing a first-class or a three-day game after a long time. We have lately been playing only one-dayers. It takes a bit of time to get used to it," he said. "They began to get better after the 13th or 14th overs and, hopefully, the second time round they (pace bowlers) would have rediscovered their rhythm," the veteran spinner said.
Kumble agreed the Indians were not off to a good start towards the close of play but stressed his batsmen were capable of producing far better results than they have on this tour so far. "These are tough conditions and there is very little margin of error. It is one of those days when you have to bat for those last seven overs and it could be difficult. But it's a good wicket and I'm sure tomorrow our batters would put their heads down and score runs," Kumble said.
"They haven't got going so far but they are capable of producing big scores. Hopefully, they would do it straightaway in the first innings of the Gabba Test," he said. The veteran spinner was all praise for Lee Carsledine who scored a brilliant 100 against the Indians even though the left-handed batsman himself found Irfan Pathan to be the best of the Indian bowlers.
"I thought Irfan Pathan was good and he bowled with a lot of purpose," said Carseldine "The Indians were a bit loose in the first session but they improved from the second session onwards," he said. Carseldine said his team had planned to declare towards the close of play provided they managed to put up a good score on the board. (Agencies)
Published: Sunday, November 30, 2003
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