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Ahmedabad, Oct 6:
India would go into the first cricket Test against New Zealand with
four regular bowlers as coach John Wright is banking on the bowling
skills of part-timers Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly to make up
for the fifth bowler's slot. Wright said he was confident of the
capabilities of the likes of Ganguly and Tendulkar who could
"win a match with the ball too". "Sachin can be a
match-winner with the ball. He had fantastic spells in both
Challenger as well as Irani Cup recently," Wright told
reporters ahead of the first Test starting here on Wednesday.
"This would be
the best opportunity for players like Ganguly, who has improved his
pace, and Virender Sehwag and Tendulkar to be used as bowlers as
only four frontline bowlers would be playing in the first
Test," Wright said. He said the two spinners -- Anil Kumble and
Harbhajan Singh -- would be playing while inclusion of a third
spinner in Sairaj Bahutule was also not ruled out. However, the
final playing XI would only be finalised tomorrow night, the coach
said.
On the new opening
combination he said Sehwag had already proved himself and got runs
as an opener while Akash Chopra too was in fine form being among
runs in the three-day matches. The former Kiwi batsman said though
it was pretty hot, these conditions would not be a problem as
"we are used to this kind of weather". The coach said the
Indian think-tank had not insisted on preparation of any particular
kind of wicket for the first Test. "We have not given any such
instruction...generally, the wicket at Motera has been very good and
it has produced some tremendous Test matches in the past and we
expect a sporting wicket this time as well."
Asked to comment on
New Zealand coach Ashley Ross' statement that his team had plans for
every Indian player, Wright said "every team has plans, we have
ours and they have theirs but the most important thing is that it
should work on the field, which is not always easy. "The
execution of plans to perfection during matches is the toughest
part," Wright said while stressing the team was not to bother
about what the opposition might be planning. "We know New
Zealand is a competitive side and we know they have been doing very
well in the past 18 months but we are prepared to face them... I am
sure it's going to be an interesting series."
Pacemen Laxmipathy
Balaji and Avishkar Salvi, who were in Sri Lanka for a three-nation
tournament, have joined the team and took part in the practice
session today. Both were spotted bowling to captain Ganguly in the
nets. The two umpires -- David Shepherd of England and Rudy Koerzen
of South Africa were also in the thick of things at the Indian nets.
Shepherd was seen taking Tendulkar's autograph on a cricket bat.
(Agencies)
Published: Monday,
October 06, 2003
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