India require 493 to win first Test

Openers Wasim Jaffer and Rahul Dravid guided India to six for no wicket in their second innings as they set about chasing a mammoth 499 for victory over Australia on the third day of the first Test on Friday.

Jaffer was on two and Dravid on three after Ricky Ponting had declared Australia's second innings closed on 351 for seven, with about 40 minutes of play remaining.

Brad Hogg was 35 not out, his highest Test score, while Brett Lee was 11 not out when Ponting declared.

The highest total batting fourth on the Melbourne Cricket Ground is 417, set by England in the Centenary Test in 1977, chasing 463 for victory.

Australia are seeking their 15th successive Test victory as they chase the world record of 16 wins in a row, set by Steve Waugh's Australia team from 1999-2001.

Australia's bowlers picked up where they left off in the first innings with an exacting period of bowling as the shadows lenghthened across the ground.

Ponting changed his bowling attack several times with Lee, Johnson, Stuart Clark and Hogg all attempting to get a wicket.

CLEAN BOWLED

Michael Clarke top-scored for Australia with 73 before he was stumped by Mahendra Dhoni off the bowling of India captain Anil Kumble, while wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist was dismissed for 35. They were the only Australian batsmen dismissed in the final session.

Opener Phil Jaques, who scored 66 in the first innings, made 51 before being caught and bowled by Kumble, while all-rounder Andrew Symonds contributed an aggressive 44 before he was trapped in front by Zaheer Khan just before tea.

Symonds could have been dismissed earlier, having been clean bowled by Khan, off a no ball. To add insult to injury, Symonds and Clarke added an extra run while the Indians celebrated before noticing umpire Billy Bowden's outstretched arm.

Symonds also nicked Khan between wicketkeeper Mahendra Dhoni and first slip for a boundary two balls before Khan got a delivery, that would have hit middle stump, to nip back.

Mike Hussey was caught by Sachin Tendulkar off RP Singh for 36, while Matthew Hayden was caught by Sourav Ganguly at long off for 47 and Ponting was caught by Dravid at slip for three.

Harbhajan Singh finished with three for 101, while Kumble had two wickets for 102.

--
Global Cricket Platform? Check now at www.CricketPulse.com

Subscribe to CricketPulse Newsletter at http://groups.google.com/group/CricketPulse

Lee, Clark put Australia in command on day 2 of 1st Test Match at Melbourne

Australia took a firm grip on the first Test after Stuart Clark and Brett Lee produced a sustained period of hostile and controlled pace bowling to bowl India out for 196 late on the second day on Thursday.

Clark, who finished with an outstanding four for 28 off 15 overs, captured the valuable wickets of Sachin Tendulkar (62) and Rahul Dravid (4) as India struggled against the pace attack.

India were dismissed 147 runs behind Australia's first innings of 343.

Australia's openers Phil Jaques (10) and first innings centurion Matthew Hayden (22) extended the lead to 179, reaching the close of play on 32 for no wicket.

Hayden was particularly aggressive, dispatching several bad deliveries from the Indians to the fence.

Short of a dramatic collapse, Australia look favourites to extend their successive Test winning streak to 15 later in the week as the pitch deteriorates.

The current Australia side is chasing the world record set by Steve Waugh's side of 16 successive Test victories, which was ended by India in 2001.

Clark, who was the last man dismissed in Australia's first innings early on the second day when he was caught hooking by Harbhajan Singh off Zaheer Khan, struck at crucial times during India's innings.

He trapped a pensive looking Dravid in the final over before lunch, then dismissed Tendulkar just before tea.

Clark also dismissed Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Dhoni, both for nought, either side of the tea break as he took three wickets for just one run within the space of 12 balls.

Lee, whose extreme pace snuck through the defences of Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh, hitting both in the ribs, finished with four for 46 off 19.5 overs.

Sourav Ganguly, who combined with Tendulkar in a 65-run partnership as they attempted to rebuild India's innings from 55 for three, scored 43 before he was bowled by Brad Hogg, who finished with two for 82 off 21 overs.

India captain Anil Kumble, who took five for 84 in the first innings, also scored 27 valuable runs before he became Lee's 250th Test victim.

--
Global Cricket Platform? Check now at www.CricketPulse.com

Subscribe to CricketPulse Newsletter at http://groups.google.com/group/CricketPulse

Kumble puts India on top on day one of 1st Test Match at Melbourne

Australia opener Matthew Hayden scored his 28th Test century, while India captain Anil Kumble took five wickets to leave the first Test evenly poised after the first day's play on Wednesday.

Hayden, who shared a 135-run opening partnership with Phil Jaques, was dismissed for 124 as the home side reached stumps on 337 for nine, with Mitchell Johnson on 10 and Stuart Clark on 21.

Kumble finished with five for 84, while left-arm pace bowler Zaheer Khan grabbed three wickets including captain Ricky Ponting and Hayden.

Kumble would be pleased with his side's efforts of refusing to succumb to Australian pressure by capturing wickets at crucial times after breaking the opening stand.

Australia made a tentative start after winning the toss and choosing to bat on a pitch that had signs of grass and moisture in the outfield, before Hayden and Jaques guided them through to lunch at 111 for no wicket.

MOMENTUM STALLS

However, after Kumble managed to draw Jaques down the wicket by a topspinner that was neatly taken by wicketkeeper Mahendra Dhoni, who whipped the bails off to dismiss him for 66, the home side's momentum stalled.

Ponting was bowled by Zaheer for four with a delivery that seamed away to knock over off stump before Mike Hussey was trapped in front by Kumble off another delivery that failed to spin, for two, leaving the home side at 165 for three.

Hayden, who reached his century with a cover drive off Rudra Pratap Singh for his eighth boundary, consolidated the innings with Michael Clarke before they both fell in quick succession.

Clarke was well caught by Vangipurappu Laxman at second slip for 20 chasing a full, wide delivery from R P Singh, before Hayden spooned a catch to Saurav Ganguly at mid-on shortly after.

Symonds, who had ominously moved to 35 off 42 balls, was then caught by substitute fielder Dinesh Karthik to give Kumble his third wicket.

The Indian captain then had Gilcrhsit mistiming a sweep to be caught by Sachin Tendulkar for 23, then trapped Lee in front for a duck to give him his 35th five-wicket haul in Tests.

Khan then had Brad Hogg caught in the slips for 17 with the first delivery with the new ball before Clark, who produced two cover drives for boundaries in the final over that belied his number 11 status, and Johnson saw the home side through to stumps.

--
Global Cricket Platform? Check now at www.CricketPulse.com

Subscribe to CricketPulse Newsletter at http://groups.google.com/group/CricketPulse

Dravid confirmed as opener, Yuvi to play in Boxing Day Test

The flip-flop has finally ended and Rahul Dravid would indeed open the innings in the Boxing Day Test against Australia at the MCG on Wednesday.

The uncertainty around Yuvraj Singh has also been put the rest and the 'sixer king' would play, his second Test in succession.

It leaves Virender Sehwag, hoisted to the main stage in the last 10 days beyond his wildest dream, in the background once again and all dreams of him emulating his swashbuckling heroics of Boxing Day Test four years ago would have to wait for some other occasion.

It hasn't been an easy decision for the team management but thankfully they have arrived at it a good 72 hours before the start of the Test.

It only suited the side that they haven't left it for the last minute as it involves three stalwarts, all of whom want to resurrect their careers floundering on the treacherous waters of international cricket.

Dravid is seeking a route from the back lanes of Tests to find a way back into the one-day squad, Yuvraj's frustration of not having established himself at the Test level has reached a flashpoint and Sehwag is desperate to leverage his still-outstanding record into a goodwill among selectors and team management.

The visitors arrived to this shore having made up their mind on Dravid as opener before a rethink occurred, largely to do with the risk of putting their best batsman in a position he is unaccustomed.

--
Global Cricket Platform? Check now at www.CricketPulse.com

Subscribe to CricketPulse Newsletter at http://groups.google.com/group/CricketPulse

India Tour of Australia Dec 2007 - Feb 2008 - Complete Cricket Schedule

India will fight a four match test series, one twenty-twenty match and a tri-angle series with Australia and Sri Lanka. The trios are very strong teams. The team will play the match in Australia, So the most important thing is to know the time schedule or time table. When the match will start and what are the venues both are important thing for the cricket fans.

The first Test Match will start on 26 December 2007, the twenty20 match will be held on 1 February 2008 and the Commonwealth Bank Series 2008 (One Day International) triangle ODI series between India, Australia and Sri Lanka will be held from 3rd February 2008. Check now at http://www.cricketpulse.com/UpcomingSeries/IndiaAustraliaSeries.asp

--
Global Cricket Platform? Check now at www.CricketPulse.com

Subscribe to CricketPulse Newsletter at http://groups.google.com/group/CricketPulse

ICL: Chennai Superstars humbles Kolkata Tigers to storm into Indian Cricket League's Final

Chennai Superstars' Rajagopal Sathish (51) wielded the willow in style and then bowled with a golden arm to beat Kolkata Tigers by 93 runs and take his team into the summit clash of the Indian Cricket League's maiden Twenty20 tournament.

After scoring 167, Chennai Superstars bundled out Tigers for a paltry 74 in 15.3 overs to win the semi-final encounter comfortably.

Tigers made a mess of their run chase, right from the start, losing wickets at regular intervals and were ultimately bundled out for the lowest total of the tournament.

Barring Abhishek Jhunjhunwala (18) and A S Jain (18), no other batsman of the Tigers made it to double figures.

Man-of-the match Sathish along with Ian Harvey, D T Kumaran and Thiru Kumaran took two wickets each.

Former Pakistani medium-pacer Shabeer Ahmed opened the floodgates after dismissing opener Darren Maddy (9) and finished with magical figures of 3-1-5-1.

D T Kumaran removed the other opener Deep Dasgupta (1) and then Sathish got into the act sending back Rajiv Kumar (8) leaving Tigers tottering at 3-31.

Kumaran pulled off a sensational catch along the boundary line off Thiru Kumaran to send back skipper Craig MacMillan (6).

Allrounder Lance Klusener (4) was also sent packing by Sathish, leaving the Tigers gasping at 5-52.

Rest of the team disintegrated like a pack of cards and in the end handing down a much easy win to the Superstars, who had earlier won their three league matches of the tournament on a trot.

Earlier, electing to bat, the Superstars after being six down in the 15th over were bailed out by Sathish.

The 26-year-old right-handed allrounder from Tamil Nadu struck a 24-ball 51 to fully entertain the modest crowd, which had turned up to watch the match despite very cold weather conditions.

Sathish's knock was studded with three sixes and six boundaries and he weaved a 61-run partnership for the seventh wicket with S V Sarvanan, who also struck a quick-fire unbeaten 24 in 16 balls.

He started hammering the Tigers bowlers showing little respect for Lance Klusener, MacMillan and Darren Maddy.

As runs started flowing freely for the Superstars, MacMillan finally got the breakthrough in the 19th over when he had Sathish caught out.

Once he was back, the tail-enders packed up quickly leaving a ball to spare.

Chandigarh Lions will meet Delhi Jets in the second semi-final on Saturday.

--
Global Cricket Platform? Check now at www.CricketPulse.com

Subscribe to CricketPulse Newsletter at http://groups.google.com/group/CricketPulse

Indian Cricket League (ICL) announces 20 Match Tournament Schedule

The Indian Cricket League (ICL) has announced the schedule for its inaugural Twenty20 tournament, which will kick off with Delhi Jets taking on Chandigarh Lions on November 30.

The tournament will have a round-robin format, with six teams - Delhi Jets, Chandigarh Lions, Mumbai Champs, Kolkata Tigers, Chennai Superstars and Hyderabad Heroes - vying for a place in the semi-finals. The teams which fail to make the final will compete for the third and fourth spot as well as the fifth and sixth spot.

"The match schedule we have announced offers cricket fans great excitement on all days, starting November 30," Kapil Dev, the chairman of the ICL's executive board, said on Friday (November 23). "We look forward to seeing some fantastic cricket action played by combined pool of some of the best players in the world and fresh cricketing talent in India."

Himanshu Mody, the ICL's project head, spoke about the players who decided to sign up with the ICL, including the likes of Inzamam-ul-Haq, Chris Cairns, and Lance Klusener, along with a host of players from the Indian domestic circuit. "We believe that each of these players, represent the best of cricketing talent in the country and internationally. We will continue to search for further talent with killer instinct that can take India to the next level. We now see the teams that will play in the ICL tournament later this year, finally taking shape."

The tournament will be played at the Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex in Panchkula, a town near Chandigarh.

Schedule
Nov 30: Chandigarh Lions v Delhi Jets

Dec 1: Chennai Superstars v Kolkata Tigers; Mumbai Champs v Hyderabad Heroes

Dec 2: Delhi Jets v Hyderabad Heroes; Chandigarh Lions v Kolkata Tigers

Dec 3: Mumbai Champs v Chennai Superstars

Dec 5: Hyderbad Heroes v Chandigarh Lions

Dec 7: Mumbai Champs v Delhi Jets

Dec 8: Chennai Superstars v Chandigarh Lions; Delhi Jets v Kolkata Tigers

Dec 9: Hyderabad Heroes v Chennai Superstars; Mumbai Champs v Chandigarh Lions

Dec 10: Mumbai Champs v Kolkata Tigers

Dec 12: Chennai Superstars v Delhi Jets; Hyderbad Heroes v Kolkata Tigers

Dec 14: Semi-final I

Dec 15: 5/6 classification; Semi-final II

Dec 16: 3/4 classification; Final

--
Global Cricket Platform? Check now at www.CricketPulse.com

Subscribe to CricketPulse Newsletter at http://groups.google.com/group/CricketPulse

Lara and Inzamam named in ICL teams

Brian Lara and Inzamam-ul-Haq headlined the list of players as the Indian Cricket League (ICL) announced its teams for the inaugural tournament. Lara has been named in the Mumbai Champs side while Inzamam will play for Hyderabad Heroes.

Inzamam and Lara, along with Stuart Law, Chris Cairns and Craig McMillan are likely to lead the teams.

The other international players include Abdul Razzaq, Taufeeq Umar and Shabbir Ahmed of Pakistan, Australia's Ian Harvey, South Africa's Johan Van der Wath, Lance Klusener, Nicky Boje and Andrew Hall, New Zealand's Nathan Astle, Chris Harris and Daryl Tuffey and England's Vikram Solanki. The ICL is in talks with Sri Lanka's Marvan Atapattu, while Russel Arnold and Upul Chandana have already signed.

The overseas players have been spread among the six teams - Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chandigarh Lions, Chennai Superstars, Delhi Jets and Kolkata Tigers. The coaches for these teams are Sandeep Patil, Madan Lal, Balwinder Sandhu, Moin Khan, Daryll Cullinan and Michael Bevan.

"We have ensured the teams are balanced in every way and receive the best facilities in terms of coaching, showcasing their talent and exposure to international cricket," Kapil Dev, the chairman of the ICL's executive board, said. "I wish all the players best of luck for the tournament."

The teams will be taking part in a practice camp in their respective cities.

The tournament begins on November 30 in Panchkula, a town near Chandigarh.

Teams:

Chennai Superstars: Stuart Law, Ian Harvey, Hemang Badani, Chris Read (wk), Russell Arnold, Sridharan Sriram, Shabbir Ahmed, V Devendran, R Sathish, Dakshinamoorthy Kumaran, Hemanth Kumar, Jamaluddin Syed Mohammed, Thiru Kumaran, J Hareish, V Sarvanan, R Jesuraj, Sanjeev Martin, G Vignesh, P Vivek.
Coach: Michael Bevan

Hyderabad Heroes: Inzamam-ul-Haq, Chris Harris, Nicky Boje, Abdul Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood, Anirudh Singh, Ambati Rayudu, S Shahubuddin, Stuart Binny, IS Reddy, Vinay Kumar, Ibrahim Khaleel, Kaushik Reddy, Bheema Rao, Alfred Absolem, Shashank Nag, PS Niranjan, Baburao Yadav, Zakaria Zuffri.
Coach: Moin Khan

Kolkata Tigers: Craig McMillan, Lance Klusener, Darren Maddy, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Rohan Gavaskar, Upul Chandana, Deep Dasgupta, Abu Nechim, Parviz Aziz, Shiv Sagar Singh, Boyd Rankin, Mihir Diwakar, Rajiv Kumar, Sayed Akhlakh, Subhomoy Das, Sujay Tarafdar, Pritam Das, Anshu Jain, Ali H Zaidi.
Coach: Daryll Cullinan

Delhi Jets: Taufeeq Umar, Niall O'Brien, Paul Nixon, Dale Benkenstein, JP Yadav, Mohnish Mishra, Abbas Ali, Ali Murtaza, T Sudhindra, Abid Nabi, Sachin Dholpure, Abhishek Tamrakar, Dishant Yagnik, Dhruv Mahajan, Abhinav Bali, Raghav Sachdev.
Coach: Madan Lal

Mumbai Champs: Brian Lara, Vikram Solanki, Robin Morris, Nathan Astle, Kiran Powar, Shreyas Khanolkar, Johan Van der Wath, Rakesh Patel, Avinash Yadav, Nantie Hayward, Subhojit Paul, Dheeraj Jadhav, A Sanklecha, Ranjeet Kirid, Pushkaraj Joshi, Suyash Burkul, Raviraj Patil, Nikhil Mandale, Sridher Iyer.
Coach: Sandeep Patil

Chandigarh Lions: Chris Cairns, Imran Farhat, Dinesh Mongia, Hamish Marshall, Andrew Hall, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Rajesh Sharma, TP Singh, Sarabjeet Singh, Ishan Malhotra, Daryl Tuffey, Sumit Kalia, Chetan Sharma, Manish Sharma, Luv Ablish, Bipul Sharma, Karanveer Singh, Amit Uniyal, Gaurav Gupta, Harpreet Singh.
Coach: Balwinder Sandhu

--
Global Cricket Platform? Check now at www.CricketPulse.com

Subscribe to CricketPulse Newsletter at http://groups.google.com/group/CricketPulse

Pakistan Test Squad for India Series - Afridi left out of Pakistan Test squad

After failing to make much impact in the ongoing one-day international series, flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi was on Friday left out of the 14-member Pakistan squad for the three-match Test series against India starting November 22.

Apart from Afridi, three others -- Fawad Alam, Rao Iftikhar and Imran Nazir -- will also return home after the fifth and final one-dayer in Jaipur.

"These four [Afridi, Alam, Iftikhar and Nazir] will return home after the final one-dayer in Jaipur," chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed said.

The selectors have brought in leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, pacer Mohammad Sami and batsman Faisal Iqbal in place of the omitted quartet.

Pakistan have already lost the five-match ODI series after losing the fourth game in Gwalior on Thursday to go down 1-3.

Defending Afridi's exclusion, Salahuddin said it would have been difficult to strike a balance in the Test team if the all-rounder had been accommodated.

"If we play three pacers and Danish it is difficult to find a place for him. He is such a senior player, we feel it is better he comes home," Salahuddin said.

Earlier, pacer Mohammad Asif failed to pass a fitness test, which ruled him out of the series.

Salahuddin admitted that Asif's failure to recover from his elbow injury has come as a blow to the team.

"He is a good pacer and ideal for Test matches. But since he is yet not recovered from his elbow injury we had no option left," he said.

Asif also missed the one-day series because of the injury after being initially picked in the squad.

The chief selector said Asif would be sent to Australia by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for examination by a sports medicine specialist.

"We are hoping he will make a complete recovery from his injury before our next series," he said.

The chief selector said losing the one-day series is a setback and disappointing but hopes that the players will learn from their mistakes and do better in the Tests.

Squad: Shoaib Malik (captain), Younis Khan (vice-captain), Abdur Rehman, Danish Kaneria, Faisal Iqbal, Mohammad Sami, Kamran Akmal (w/k), Misbah-ul Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Salman Butt, Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Yasir Hameed.

--
Global Cricket Platform? Check now at www.CricketPulse.com

Subscribe to CricketPulse Newsletter at http://groups.google.com/group/CricketPulse

Gambhir, Sehwag make way for Yuvraj, Murali in Test team

The Indian Test squad for the first two Test matches against Pakistan was announced today after a long meeting of the BCCI selectors. They have decided to make way for the entry of Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Dinesh Kartik, Wasim Jaffer and Yuvraj Singh in the 14 players for the crucial Test matches.

Among the big names that have been left out cold are the out of form Virender Sehwag along with Irfan Pathan and Ramesh Powar. Ironically, the in-form opener from Delhi, Gautam Gambhir has also been ruled out from the first two Test matches in spite of being in good nick.

Newly appointed Test captain Anil Kumble also attended the meeting and perhaps his insistence on the inclusion of a spinner made way for Murali Kartik.

The opening Test is to be held at Delhi from November 22-26 while Kolkata is the venue for the November 30-December 4 second Test.

The team for the subsequent four-Test series in Australia, commencing on December 26, would be chosen between the end of the second Test against Pakistan and the start of the third and concluding Test (Dec 8-12) at Bangalore.

"The team for Australia will be selected between the second and third Tests against Pakistan. We can`t delay choosing the team," BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said.

Shah said henceforth, teams would not be chosen on days when matches involving the squad are held.

"We will not choose teams on the day of a match. It becomes difficult for the selectors to concentrate on the game," Shah explained.

India are to play the four Test matches for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against hosts Australia at Melbourne (Dec 26-30, 2007), Sydney (Jan 2-6, 2008), Perth (Jan 16-20) and Adelaide (Jan 24-28).

Squad: Anil Kumble (Capt), Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Wasim Jaffer, RP Singh, S Sreesanth, Murali Kartik, Dinesh Karthik

Russell Crowe might own T20 team in India

Oscar-winning Hollywood star Russell Crowe is all set to own a team in the Indian Premier League, BCCI's Twenty20 extravaganza.

Crowe — cousin of former New Zealand captains Jeff and Martin Crowe — and businessman Peter Holmes a Court, who jointly own the South Sydney Rugby League Club, are about to buy into a franchise in IPL, the Australian newspaper Sun-Herald reported.

They may well hire players like Ricky Ponting and Brett Lee to play for Rabittohs, as the club is better known, in Mumbai next year, the paper said.

Apart from the Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, Mike Hussey and Andrew Symonds have signed up for IPL.

Archrivals India, Pakistan set for another battle of supremacy

Barely a day after imposition of Emergency, Pakistan renew their cricketing rivalry against arch-rivals India with a five-match One-day series in Guwahati on Monday with two young captains leading highly talented but unpredictable teams.
 
 The political turmoil back home would no doubt weigh down heavily on Pakistanis' mind as they go into the first One-dayer seeking to take an early advantage in the battle of nerves and skills.
 The series will also be a test of character for the captains Mahendra Singh Dhoni of India and Shoaib Malik of Pakistan, who have shown a remarkable composure but any contest involving the traditional foes is bound to put that extra bit of pressure.
 
 Besides, Malik will also have to manage without their pace spearhead Mohammad Asif, who pulled out of the One-day series owing to his elbow injury, and the experience of former captain Inzamam-ul Haq, who recently retired from the international cricket.
 
 India would also be without their senior batsman Rahul Dravid, their batting main stay so far who has been dropped for the first two matches of the series.
 
 With the talks of 'phasing out process' in the Indian cricket, other two ageing warhorses Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly would also be under pressure as the hosts would rely on their strong opening partnerships.
 
 The seasoned Virender Sehwag would also be keen to regain his old magic, particularly as his inclusion in the team in place of former skipper Dravid triggered lot of a debate.
 
 Sehwag, who boasts of a 300 plus score against the Pakistanis, would look for a success with his bat against the attack which includes speedster Shoaib Akhtar returning to the team after a long gap.
 
 There is lot of interest in cricketing circles about who comes out in the number three batting slot, with skipper Dhoni himself expressing his willingness to bat at that position sometime back, and the followers of the game would be waiting with baited breath to see the mystery unravel.
 
 Dhoni, who shot into the limelight with a scintillating hundred against Pakistan at Visakhapatnam, has always had a good record against the neighbours, and the sell out crowd at the stadium would be looking forward to another cracker of an innings from the talismanic Ranchi-based cricketer.

Indians gear up for home series against Pakistan

Battered by formidable Australia in the recent One-day series, Indian cricketers used the opening day of the camp on Friday to rejuvenate themselves ahead of the tough engagements against Pakistan.

The two-hour session at the floodlit Eden Gardens saw ageing warhorses Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar spend the maximum time at the nets.

Tendulkar seemed in full flow against both spinners and pacers, as he executed a flurry of strokes that triggered spontaneous applause from the sizeable number of cricket buffs present at the galleries.

Ganguly, who looked a bit circumspect initially, settled down after some time, to play some trademark aggressive shots.

The other batsmen also had some fruitful net sessions, while the bowlers in the team turned their arms for long spells, though the pacers had to do with shorter run ups in view of the run up being slightly wet due to rains over the last couple of days.

The conditions also forced fielding coach Robin Singh to stick to some standard fielding drills with his boys.

Among the battery of local bowlers deployed by the Cricket Association of Bengal, one caught the attention of those watching the proceedings because of his white skin.

Many were seen asking "who is this sahib?" A CAB official later said that the foreigner was Nigel, a bowler from the Lancashire minor county league, who has been recruited by a city club Kalighat this year.

The Indian players would have two sessions on the morrow. In the morning, they would slog it out at the nets for three hours before having a one and half hour fielding session in the afternoon.

CricketPulse.com: Gateway to Indian Cricket

CricketPulse.com is dedicated channel for ball by ball live updated scores, latest cricket news, articles, player profiles, features, player statistics and forthcoming series. It also offers users the most comprehensive live coverage of international and domestic cricket.