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 Three key players, including Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh, were today declared unfit for the first one-day match against New Zealand here tomorrow, giving a serious setback to a beleaguered Indian team which is seeking to put behind the disappointments of Test series with a good performance in the limited-overs internationals. Tendulkar had sprained his right ankle while bowling in the nets yesterday while Harbhajan Singh developed "some problem" in his bowling hand, team officials said. To add to their woes, all-rounder Sanjay Bangar has not recovered from an injury he sustained in the second Test.
With medium-pacer Rakesh Patel, one of the four players – along with Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble and Yuvraj Singh - called for the one-day series, yet to join the team, the Indians are struggling to put forth an eleven to take on a pumped up New Zealand which is keen to keep the tourists down in the one-dayers too with their hostile bowling. The 12 able-bodied men available for tomorrow’s game include all the four medium pacers - Ajit Agarkar, Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra - and wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel.
According to all available indications, Patel would be asked to make his one-day debut considering the thin batting line-up India are left with. Despite India's woeful batting display in the Test series, the national selectors paid no heed to the crying need for including an additional batsman in the one-day squad and the result is that there are not enough batsmen in the side for tomorrow's game. Even after the news of the injury of the three players, there is no second thought being given to hold on to at least a couple of cricketers who are returning home tomorrow after the Test series.
 Shiv Sunder Das, Murali
Kartik, Tinu Yohannan and Ajay Ratra are due to return home tomorrow and at least Das and Kartik could have been asked to stay back. With Patel almost a certainty for tomorrow’s game, the diminutive 17-year-old will most likely to do the duties behind the wickets relieving Rahul Dravid of the extra responsibility that he has been entrusted with in the
one-dayers. Virender Sehwag and skipper Sourav Ganguly have looked totally out of sorts on the New Zealand wickets in the Test matches while one-day stars Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif are yet to get a taste of the pitches in this country.
As such, India's batting is precariously placed and have a Herculean task ahead of them in putting up a decent total on the board. The injury woes and the consequent difficulty in picking up the team has almost made the issue of pitches irrelevant for the Indian team. Though the pitches are widely expected to be better than those seen in the Test matches, New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming has already said there would not be much difference as for as pace and bounce was concerned.
Tomorrow’s match is being played on a drop-in pitch which is said to be consistent in pace and very helpful to the faster bowlers. New Zealand, on the other hand, are much better organised and well-prepared to carry their dominance into the seven-match one-day series. So clear are they about their strategy that they have decided to leave out paceman Daryl Tuffey - man of the series in Tests with 14 wickets at an average of 8.7 - for tomorrow’s game. Tuffey will yield his place to Kyle Mills who is quicker and is expected to make better use of a bouncy portable pitch at Eden Park.
 New Zealand first came up with the idea four years ago in order to make the most of dual-purpose grounds. The portable pitch is grown in a special tray off-site and lifted by crane onto the playing area where it replaces a tray of normal playing surface turf. New Zealand will thus go into the game with a battery of fast bowlers - Shane Bond, Jacob Oram, Kyle Mills and Paul Hitchcock - and have couple of new names to boost up their frail batting. Wicket keeper batsman Brendon McCullum, who has a formidable reputation as a fierce striker of the ball, has been drafted in the side while Matthew Sinclair is expected to lend his experience to the batting line-up though he has a modest record to show for this year.
Fleming will lead from the front and open the New Zealand batting along with Nathan Astle who is the country's most successful and prolific one-day batsman. The middle order is then manned by the likes of Sinclair, McMillan and Lou Vincent. |
