Ganguly to be back as an opener

Ganguly had promoted his deputy Rahul Dravid to open the innings in their previous game against Zimbabwe on Sunday, bringing himself at number four. Though Dravid clicked, scoring a solid 85 and playing the role of sheet anchor, the skipper himself got out for 18.

With Dravid out of action for the remainder of this tournament owing to a finger injury and Ganguly back to his role as an opener, the crucial number four spot will now be taken by newcomer S Sriram, who has shown tremendous promise as a substitute fielder in the earlier games.

Vinod Kambli, who was hit on his forearm against Zimbabwe by a rising delivery from Trevis Friend but is fit now, has a big task on his hand going in as the one-down batsman on Thursday. His captain had no suggestions for him and said he would rather leave Kambli to work out his own methods.

“I have left Kambli alone to work things out for himself,” Ganguly said. Ganguly’s comment on Kambli’s uneasiness while playing sort-pitched deliveries and his advice to let such balls go had drawn great media attention in the last few days and today the skipper said he would like Kambli to deal with them himself.

“Every batsman has his own method to work out things. I am sure the same is true with Kambli.”

The Indian captain felt it didn’t really make sense to go after the bowling in the first 15 overs even if the wicket in Sharjah was docile.

“At the most if you are going after the bowling, you would make around 80,” said Ganguly “Against Zimbabwe the other day we made 62.”“So the difference is only 15-18 runs,” said Ganguly. “But if you could pass the first 15 overs without loss, you are in a very sound position.”Mohammed Kaif, who arrived this morning as a replacement to Rahul Dravid, is unlikely to join the playing eleven against Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe would want to win this tie badly. Even if the win does not improve their chances for a berth in the finals, it would at least put them in a better frame of mind for the coming tour to India.

Zimbabwe have some useful batsman but in terms of quality, only Andy Flower and Alistair Campbell, both former captains, have been able to deliver the goods.

Zimbabwe’s coach Carl Rackemann, is expecting his young wards to do well at least in the remaining matches. “It is up to them to seize their chances,” Rackemann said.

Teams:
India: Sachin Tendulkar, Sridharan Sriram, Vinod Kambli, Sourav Ganguly (cap), Yuvraj Singh, Robin Singh, Vijay Dahiya, Sunil Joshi, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar and Venkatesh Prasad.
Zimbabwe (from): Douglas Marillier, Alistair Campbell, Dirk Viljoen, Andy Flower, Grant Flower, Guy Whittall, Mark Vermuleon, Stuart Carlisle, Bryan Strang, Heath Streak (cap), Travis Friend and Paul Strang.