Tendulkar set to
make his T20 debut
MELBOURNE, Jan 31: Sachin Tendulkar is
all set to make his Twenty20 debut when
world champions India take on Australia
in an one-off match here tomorrow with
the visitors keen to maintain their their
supremacy in the shortest format of the
game.
With the
Harbhajan Singh racial issue having been
sorted out, the focus will be back on
cricket but the Indians can expect a
fierce backlash from the Australians who
have been quite livid with the
developments in the last two days.
But the
Indians are quite prepared to counter the
home team with a number of younger
players joining the team for the
tri-series, leaving Tendulkar to be the
only veteran player in the squad.
Tendulkar,
who had opted out of the last year’s
Twenty20 World Cup to give chance to
youngsters, has been in great from since
setting foot on Australian soil and will
be keen to carry the momentum into
Twenty20 game and the subsequent
tri-series.
The other
senior players like captain Anil Kumble,
Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and VVS
Laxman have returned home to give way to
the youngsters. The presence of the
youngsters will no doubt raise the
fielding standard of the team but they
have to quickly acclimatise to the
conditions here.
While
Twenty20 star Yuvraj Singh is out of
action for a couple of matches owing to
his knee injury, Gautam Gambhir, Robin
Uthappa, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik and
Suresh Raina will get the opportunity to
prove their worth, depending who gets the
chance to be in the playing eleven.
India have
a perfect record against Australia in the
shortest version of the game alongwith
the crowning glory at the Twenty20 World
Cup in South Africa.
Skipper
Mahendra Singh Dhoni made it clear that
his team would not sit on the past
laurels while also putting a rider that
luck was a big factor in Twenty20
cricket.
"You
have to create balance. I am the guy who
doesn’t believe in the laurels of
the past... Luck is a huge factor in this
game."
He also
said that the match would be a good
warm-up for the newcomers ahead of the
one-dayers.
"We
will treat this Twenty20 game as a
practice game as a lot of the boys who
have been here still have not got a
decent hit," he said.
Tendulkar
was the keenest one going around the
indoor nets as the Indians sought shelter
from the rain.
Tendulkar’s
mind for this game apparently was made up
in Yuvraj Singh’s absence as the
Indians sought to infuse a touch of
experience in their largely young squad.
It still
wasn’t clear if Tendulkar would come
in as opener since India also needs an
experienced hand to hold together the
innings in the latter stages.
Still, the
Indians are likely to follow the dictum
of keeping your best batsmen at the top
of the order and hence Tendulkar is
unlikely to bat lower than number four.
Most of
the rest, excepting Virender Sehwag,
captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and
Harbhajan Singh, would have their
initiation in Australian conditions on
Friday.
Australia
are likely to field four fast
bowlers’ in its ranks with
left-armer Nathan Bracken and Brett Lee
among the known names and not so
well-known figures of Ashley Noffke and
Ben Hilfenhaus.
Hilfenhaus
is known as the swing king from Tasmania
who is already touted for big things in
England next year. He has a great
outswinger which he delivers at a high
pace. A bricklayer by profession,
Hilfenhaus is a quiet character off the
field and a volatile one on it.
Noffke is
a fast bowler from Queensland who also
swings it at a good pace. He first toured
with the Australian team in the 2001
Ashes series but since then injuries have
proved to be his bane. Like Hilfenhaus,
he too is touted for big things in Ashes
next year.
Australia
has tinkered with its batting line-up as
well with David Hussey, the younger
brother of the Test star Michael,
expected to make his debut tomorrow.
David has
been in irrepressible form in Twenty20 or
in Pura Cup and has got his runs at a
rate better than 100 per ball. His
presence would make it first time since
Waughs that Australia is being
represented by two brothers.
The
recognised names of Ricky Ponting, Adam
Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds and Michael
Clarke are all there but for Matthew
Hayden whose injured right thigh, it
appears, still needs time to heal. Test
star Mitchell Johnson too has been given
a break.
Along with
David Hussey, Victoria’s Brad Hodge
will also get a big game tomorrow. Both
Hussey and Hodge are well-past their 30
and it’s an indication of how
Australia still view their Twenty20
cricket.
A sell-out
crowd of 90,000 is expected for
tomorrow’s game which is to be
preceded by a Twenty20 international
between Australia and England women
teams. It would be a teaser for the real
stuff in evening at 7.30 P.M between two
teams who have quite a history between
them for sometime now. (PTI)
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