MUMBAI, DEC 3: The Indian cricket team winged away to New Zealand today, seeking to change the trend of winless sojourns abroad. And that climb looks all the more formidable now after the late withdrawal of bowler Ajit Agarkar.
Most probably, captain Azharuddin and coach Anshuman Gaekwad will spend some time together on the long flight via Hong Kong, mulling over new strategies on the bowling front. Gaekwad, who had loaded praises on his pace wagon (“we have probably the best medium-pace attack in the world”) would be hoping that the support cast to Javagal Srinath comes good in the two practice games prior to the Test series.
The two-four day games will be the testing ground for the Indians — a sneak preview of their abilities before the Tests. “We would have to quickly get our acts together in the side games,” Gaekwad said yesterday, underlining the importance of the two pre-Test fixtures.
While Agarkar’s injury may have jumbled up India’s bowling options, the fact remains that the principalcause for India’s dismal record overseas has been their batting failures — in evidence during the one-off Test against Zimbabwe recently. A reality which was not lost on Azhar when he said the Indian batsmen would have to justify their potential for the bowlers to do what was expected of them.
Besides, with the national selectors picking three regular openers — Navjot Singh Sidhu is understood to be a certainty, with the other slot a toss up between VVS Laxman and Ajay Jadeja — it would be interesting to note which opening combination the Indians adhere to.
If Laxman takes precedence over Jadeja, the latter would find it difficult to make it to the final eleven. Jadeja, part of the team management as vice-captain, would then be left in the embarrassing situation of deciding his own place with Azhar and Gaekwad. Needless to say, most of the load down the order will depend on senior pro Azhar, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly.
Other than the burden of their one-win record over the last12 years, the Indians have not had a particularly pleasant time in New Zealand — they haven’t won a Test series there since Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi’s team returned triumphant in 1967-68. In fact, India’s last Test win there came 23 years ago at Auckland during the 1975-76 series.
The New Zealand-bound Indian squad: Mohammed Azharuddin (captain), Ajay Jadeja (vice-captain), Navjot Singh Sidhu, Venkata Sai Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Nayan Mongia, Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad, Debashish Mohanty, Anil Kumble, Sunil Joshi, Harbhajan Singh and Robin Singh Junior. Coach: Anshuman Gaekwad. Team Doctor: Ravinder Chadha. Manager: SDA Draboo.