Thu, Oct 02, 2008 page18

• Aussies suffer McGain injury blow

  • AGENCIES
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  Bryce McGain further depleted Australia’s already thin spin resources in India yesterday when he was ruled out of a practice match due to a shoulder injury.

  The 36-year-old leg-spinner will miss the four-day match against a strong Indian Board President’s XI in Hyderabad from today, the tourists’ last warm-up before next week’s first Test.

  It effectively rules the Victorian out of the series opener in Bangalore from Oct. 9, with the lone spinning Test spot likely to be handed over to fellow debutant, off-spinner Jason Krejza.

  

  Australia’s Matthew Hayden puts on his batting pads yesterday ahead of a practice session in Hyderabad, India.

  PHOTO: AFP

  Team physio Alex Kountouris said McGain, who injured his right shoulder during last month’s Indian tour by the Australia ‘A’ team, could be out of action “for a few weeks.”

  “He’s not going to be right for the four-dayer and it’s going to be a few weeks at least, so that puts him out of this game and the first Test at least,” Kountouris told reporters yesterday.

  Australian coach Tim Nielsen said a decision on whether to send McGain home and call for a replacement would not be made till chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch arrived in Hyderabad tomorrow.

  “We have got to see how it works over the next couple of days,” said Nielsen. “By the time Andrew gets here, we’ll be in a better position to make a decision on where we should go with our spinning group.”

  “The only challenge would be if Jason also got injured. We would need to make a pretty quick decision on who would be a replacement then.”

  The retirements of the legendary Shane Warne and fellow wrist spinner Stuart McGill in quick succession left Australia so short of quality spin options that they picked untested McGain and 25-year-old Krejza for the Indian tour.

  Meanwhile, Yuvraj Singh leads the Board President’s XI against the tourists.

  The elegant left-hander, a regular in India’s one-day and Twenty20 side, has played only 23 Tests since his debut in 2003, scoring 1,050 runs at an average of 32.81 with three centuries.

  He was dropped for the recent Test series in Sri Lanka and was not considered for the five-day Irani Cup domestic match which was regarded as a trial match for the Australian series.

  The home squad includes 11 current or former India internationals including Wasim Jaffer, Subramaniam Badrinath, Aakash Chopra, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Parthiv Patel and Irfan Pathan.

  “This is a great chance for all of us to knock on the selectors’ door,” Yuvraj said. “We must also do well for India’s sake and put the Aussies under pressure before the Test series.”

  The Indian selectors retained former captain Saurav Ganguly in a 15-player squad named yesterday for the first two games of the series against Australia.

  Ganguly, 36, had been under pressure to keep his place as the elder statesman of the team’s four veteran batting stalwarts, along with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Vangipurappu Laxman.

  The selectors also included batsman Subramaniam Badrinath, who has played three one-dayers for India, and leg spinner Amit Mishra as back up for captain Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.

  The pair replace batsman Rohit Sharma and spinner Pragyan Ojha from the side which lost the recent Test series in Sri Lanka, 2-1.

  Wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni also returns after skipping that series.

  Prolific Australian opener Matthew Hayden says he is eager to extend his dream run in India in the upcoming series.

  The left-hander was a revelation when he first visited the country in 2001, scoring 549 runs in three Tests at an average of 109.80.

  “The Indian series is one of the great challenges in cricket and I feel up to it mentally,” Hayden told reporters on Tuesday evening.

  “I am feeling very comfortable and confident with my game at the moment. The previous tours here have been actually the greatest preparation for me,” he said.

  Hayden, who has averaged 61 in seven Tests in India, was one of the few Australia batsmen to master the spin on low, slow pitches as he used the sweep shot to a telling effect.

  “That [the sweep] was something I practised a lot for the previous series as the scoring shot against spinners. It has worked very well for me and I will continue to do that,” Hayden said.

  He said patience was the key to success on the Indian tracks.

  “It is going to be very interesting. In India, the game can seem to meander for quite a while before suddenly changing in a session,” Hayden said. “So patience is very important to succeed here.”

  India Squad: Anil Kumble (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Vangipurappu Laxman, Saurav Ganguly, Subramaniam Badrinath, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Rudra Pratap Singh, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra
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