Date-stamped : 07 Jul96 - 14:18 4 July 1996 India rediscover art of test cricket just in time LONDON, Wednesday - India may have taken a while to rediscover the traditional art of playing cricket but their new-found form has come in the nick of time to salvage a drawn series against England. With England taking a 1-0 lead into the third and final test starting at Trent Bridge on Thursday, India have at last shaken off the hangover from an overdose of one-day cricket. The tourists went into the opening test at Edgbaston with only three tests under their belts in 18 months and it showed. In just over three days they were left embarrassed after a humili- ating eight-wicket defeat. The blame was placed squarely on the shoulders of the cricket au- thorities for sacrificing test matches for the fast bucks and big crowds of one-day cricket. Arriving in England shortly after the World Cup on the sub- continent and the Singer Cup in Singapore, someone forgot to tell India`s batsmen to take their time. They often fell to rash shots as they battled to make the adjust- ment from the abridged version of the game. The one exception was Sachin Tendulkar who has managed to master both forms of the game but the rest of the players were hopeless- ly lacking the skills of traditional cricket. India`s inept batting ability hit a new low only days before the second test when they were handed a 10-wicket thrashing by Der- byshire, inside three days. It was left to two test newcomers, Sauray Ganguly and Rahul Dra- vid, to show their more senior team mates the patience and tena- city needed in test cricket. Ganguly`s 131 and Dravid`s 95 in the second test at Lord`s seemed to shake the Indians into life and on Thursday they will take the field with renewed confidence. Each of their batsman, apart from Tendulkar, have hit big scores in India`s last two outings. Skipper Mohammad Azharuddin, who has struggled in the tests, found some form against a weak British Universities side in Cam- bridge last week when he stroked 73. Azharuddin is aware he needs more than just a big score to keep the axes at bay. Only a victory will keep the fans and the crick- et chiefs back home happy. Under his leadership, India have won 12 tests since 1990 but only one abroad and they have not won a test series since Kapil Dev led them to victory over England 10 years ago. Azharuddin survived widespread calls for a new captain following India`s dramatic semifinal loss to Sri Lanka in the World Cup. The test series had not even started in England when the calls for his sacking started again, this time over Navjot Sidhu`s sud- den departure over claims of unfair treatment from the skipper and team management. India`s Achilles heel leading into the final test is their bowl- ing and it is for this reason that they are likely to omit a batsman in order to strengthen their attack. Ajay Jadeja would be the most likely batsman to miss out. Apart from new ball pair Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad the tourists` attack has rarely looked dangerous. Paras Mhambrey`s place in the side as the third seamer is likely to come under pressure from Salil Ankola who picked up four Hampshire wickets in Southampton at the weekend. Selectors will also be tempted, depending on the outcome of the pitch inspection, to play a second spinner alongside Anil Kumble in either Narendra Hirwani or Venkatapathy Raju. Hirwani, who claimed 16 wickets on his test debut against West Indies in 1987-88, has partnered Kumble only twice but is the likely choice. If Ian Salisbury wins a place in England`s XI then spectators in Nottingham will see the unusual sight of three leg spinners in action. Source :: Daily News (http://www.lanka.net) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)