Indians get ready to tackle the short stuff

Coach Greg Chappell8217;s absence due to food poisoning left each one to his own device. The Australian met his appointment perfectly on arrival on Tuesday but apparently woke up unwell this morning. In his absence, skipper Rahul Dravid tried his best to explain to others how to make the most from the net session.

Batsmen, by and large, were keen to unwrap a few strokes which they usually eschew on pitches in the sub-continent. Thus there were more pulls and hooks essayed and more drives on the up were made. Bowlers, including two seniors marking their return to the one-day mix, Anil Kumble and Zaheer Khan, loosened themselves up for the battle ahead.

Seniors like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, in between attending their personal practice, offered advice to juniors who were all ears to the tips passed on to them. The two seniors also exchanged notes between them as they oversaw the practice session of the team.

The Indians seemed keen to absorb as many lessons as possible for themselves ahead of the tour which unrolls with the day-night fixture against South Africa 8216;A8217; here on Thursday.

It was strange watching them prepare so thoroughly and hard ahead of a one-day practice game. The Indians, at least in this decade, don8217;t seem to derive much benefit from tour openers and hence the attention tends to flail in these matches.

On the last tour to the West Indies, they easily got past an assembled Jamaican eleven in the tour opener, making 289 for themselves and easily winning by a whopping 116-run margin. The one-day series which unfolded thereafter resulted in a 4-1 defeat for them.

On the tour to Pakistan earlier this year, India exploited the perfect batting conditions and made 414 with most batsmen scoring runs but as is known, Indian ended up losing the Tests 1-0.

In contrast, India were lacklustre at the start of their tour to Australia in 2003 when Victorian batsman Brad Hodge milked them to the tune of 266 on a flat MCG pitch. But the tour itself turned out to be a landmark one in the reign of Sourav Ganguly as batsman after batsman piled up runs. India won a Test in Adelaide and drew the series 1-1.

In 2002, India did not start their England tour too brightly but it too was an immensely successful visit because of the historic win in the NatWest Trophy and an unlikely triumph on a seaming Headingley pitch.

Much would not be read into India8217;s performance against a rearranged home side which finds itself depleted because of a few cricketers opting to make themselves available for the domestic championship final between Warriors and Cobra, starting Friday.