England take on Indian hopefuls at Jaipur
Anand Vasu - 26 November 2001
Their moment of reckoning is almost at hand. Nasser Hussain's England
have just one more tour match to play before they take on India in the
first Test at Mohali. The Sawai Man Singh Stadium in the picturesque
frontier city of Jaipur plays host to the clash between England and
India 'A.' The visitors arrived here early and appeared to be relaxed
and looking forward to the match, while the Sunil-Joshi-led India 'A'
are, in their own right, keen to make a mark.
The pitch at the Sawai Man Singh stadium, say experts, is a green-top,
hard and bouncy. England however, would do well to eye it with a bit
of suspicion. Despite local official Kishan Rungta's assurances that
the pitch would be a sporting one, India are famous for showing off
good pitches the day before the match, only to convert them to dusty
tracks by the time the first ball is bowled.
A smiling Hussain was happy with the arrival of Andrew Flintoff.
"Flintoff has arrived, and he's likely to play," said the Essex and
England captain. Craig White, who is not one-hundred-percent fit, and
has played the first two warm-up games, is likely to be replaced by
the burly Lancashire all-rounder. But it was not Flintoff's selection
that drew interest. Left-arm spinner Ashley Giles is likely to get his
first match of the tour. "It's crunch time for Ashley Giles. He
realises that he has to play and prove his fitness," said Hussain.
With not much to speak of in terms of depth in spin bowling, with just
Martyn Ball and Richard Dawson knocking on the doors, Giles is a
certainty to play the Tests if fit.
Another left-arm spinner, Sunil Joshi, will play a key role in this
match. Joshi, out of the Indian team for an extended spell, gets his
best chance of making a comeback. With the possibility of India
playing an extra spinner on top of the Anil Kumble-Harbhajan Singh
combine, Joshi is hopeful of forcing his way into the team. "This is a
very important match for me personally, and for the many youngsters in
the team. I'm very happy with the way I'm bowling right now and am
keen to catch the eye of the selectors," he said.
And he is perfectly right when he talks of youngsters trying to prod
the selectors. After all, Rajasthan is not famous only for its
fortresses and camels; it also boasts an opener called Gagan Khoda.
With the selectors on the look-out for an opener, Khoda will unfurl
his best attacking strokes. Unlike the other openers who have featured
in the warm-up games so far, Khoda is a natural strokemaker.
The other opener on display, Vinayak Mane, is fortunate to have played
against this bowling attack at Mumbai in the opening tour match. With
that experience fresh in his mind, the short-statured Sachin-Tendulkar
replica will look to outclass his counterpart.
As with the two games that have passed so far, the forthcoming match
is a clutch game, with several players from the home teams vying for
the slots of third spinner and opening batsman. England desperately
need to clean up their act and end the match on a positive note.
Whether they can do so or not will determine their psychological make-
up when they take the field at Mohali.
Teams:
England (from): Nasser Hussain (capt), Marcus Trescothick, Mark
Butcher, Michael Vaughan, Graham Thorpe, Mark Ramprakash, Craig White,
Andrew Flintoff, Warren Hegg (wicket-keeper), James Foster (wicket-
keeper), James Ormond, Matthew Hoggard, Richard Johnson, Richard
Dawson, Martyn Ball, Ashley Giles and Usmaan Afzaal.
India A (from): Sunil Joshi (capt), Vinayak Mane, Gautham Gambhir,
Gagan Khoda, Yerre Goud, RR Parida, Abhitjit Kale, Ajay Ratra (wicket-
keeper), Reetinder Sodhi, Iqbal Siddiqui, Dodda Ganesh, Ramesh Powar,
NP Singh, S Yadav
© Cricinfo
Teams
|
England,
India.
|
Players/Umpires
|
Marcus Trescothick,
Mark Butcher,
Michael Vaughan,
Graham Thorpe,
Mark Ramprakash,
Andrew Flintoff,
Warren Hegg,
James Ormond,
Martyn Ball,
Ashley Giles,
Sunil Joshi,
Vinayak Mane,
Gautam Gambhir,
Gagan Khoda,
Yere Goud,
Rashmi Parida,
Ajay Ratra,
Reetinder Sodhi,
Dodda Ganesh,
Nasser Hussain.
|
Tours
|
England in India
|