This time, India have Hayden plan

The one big threat that the Indians face tomorrow comes from the fit-again Aussie opener Matthew Hayden.

The one big threat that the Indians face tomorrow comes from the fit-again Aussie opener Matthew Hayden. He was the highest run-getter during the Twenty20 World Cup and the top-scorer during the semi-final against India. But the Indian think-tank has come up with a plan to stop him in his tracks.

The Indian manager Lalchand Rajput said: 8220;He is a kind of player who loves to dominate bowlers. If he doesn8217;t get to score in one or two balls, he generally tries a lot and can make mistakes.8221; But the big question that is bothering the entire cricket world is how to keep Hayden quiet for a while so that he can be forced to make mistakes.

It is learnt that the Indian bowlers have been asked to bowl in specific areas tomorrow to keep a check on Hayden.

Looking at Hayden8217;s scoring pattern during the semi-final, the team has concluded that he hasn8217;t scored a single run in the point and gully region during his innings of 62 from 47 balls. While he is particularly strong on the leg-side and the straight boundary, the advertising hoardings on the square of the off-side haven8217;t been dented by Hayden.

He has a tendency to play the ball to third man but the back-foot punch on the off-side hasn8217;t been one of his favourite scoring shots. The advice to the Indian bowlers has been to pitch the ball outside the off-stump and keep the length a bit short. Hayden on his part will try to take a few steps towards the bowler and disturb both the line and length. In case the Indian plan of keeping the runs in check works, the Aussie opener can be expected to make a mistake. In case they fail, the Aussies are ensured of a terrific start to their innings.

Keeping the threat in mind, India have included in-form left-arm spinner Murali Kartik in place of injured leg-spinner Piyush Chawla for tomorrow8217;s match.

Kartik, who captured six wickets in the final one-day international against the Aussies to guide India to a memorable win here, was rewarded for his good showing as the selectors today agreed on his name for Chawla8217;s replacement, BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said in a statement today.

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