India hope new faces will restore smile

For the battered and bruised Indian cricket team, the exuberance of Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper Dinesh Kaarthick should act as a welcome tonic. ...

For the battered and bruised Indian cricket team, the exuberance of Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper Dinesh Kaarthick should act as a welcome tonic. The teenager was diving and jumping all over the place at Tuesday8217;s practice session at the Wankhede Stadium, his enthusiasm cutting through any despondency that may have descended on his senior teammates.

Strangely, it is to Kaarthick, and fellow Test debutant Gautam Gambhir, that the more experienced, famed members of Team India will look for a morale boost in the dead final Test beginning tomorrow.

8216;8216;It8217;s nice to have some new faces in the side and we hope to make them feel comfortable8217;8217;, said stand-in captain Rahul Dravid. 8216;8216;They8217;ll probably provide the spark the team needs.8217;8217;

The series is lost, regular captain Sourav Ganguly and pace ace Irfan Pathan have been sidelined and the much-acclaimed batting line-up has floundered. It sure can8217;t get any worse for the Indians.

Against this backdrop any news is good news. Harbhajan Singh8217;s return to the squad is a big plus 8212; especially given the playing surface, expected to take turn. And India8217;s hand has been further strengthened by the late withdrawal of Shane Warne from the contest.

Dravid, however, typically downplayed the ground realities. 8216;8216;I don8217;t think any wicket makes you comfortable or uncomfortable until you8217;ve really played on it. It really does not matter what the surface is. A lot of times you look at surfaces and think it will play a particular way and it turns out to be completely different.8217;8217;

The Nagpur experience seems to have made the Indians wiser. And Dravid made no secret of what is expected of each member of the team. 8216;8216;I really hope everyone understands that it8217;s a Test match and we have a lot to play for. I don8217;t think I need to motivate anyone, because I really think everyone8217;s up for it.8217;8217;

Story continues below this ad

He then pointed out that just being up for it and being motivated doesn8217;t necessarily mean you8217;ll play well. 8216;8216;At Nagpur we were quite keen to do well but couldn8217;t quite execute the plans and skills which I think are going to be very important here.8217;8217;

The Indians seem to have finally got their act right this time around. They have announced the twelve, which includes the three spinners. It means they are playing to their strength.

Changes to the winning combination in the Aussie camp is an area that the Indians should be aiming to cash on. Complacency among the tourists is another but Ricky Ponting made it amply clear that the Aussies would be putting up their best team for the contest. 8216;8216;We8217;re certainly not going to rest any players or anything like that. We8217;re going to pick the best team that we think suit the conditions here.8217;8217;

However, the Australian approach to this match has been interesting. 8216;8216;We8217;ve taken it relatively easy with our training over the last two days. We feel that our skills aren8217;t going to get any better than they are at this stage. It8217;s been more about getting mentally fresh and prepared for the next challenge.8217;8217;

Story continues below this ad

For the Indians this encounter is also a platform for the next challenges at home South Africa, Pakistan. A good result would not only erase some bad memories but put the team in good stead ahead of the future battles.