The Hindu : TVS Salve Challenger series begins today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Sep 10, 2003

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Sport - Cricket

TVS Salve Challenger series begins today

By K.C. Vijaya Kumar

THE CHALLENGE BEGINS... Indian coach John Wright, Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid unveiling the TVS Salve Challenger Trophy in Bangalore on Tuesday. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

BANGALORE Sept. 9. The TVS Salve Challenger one-day series tournament commences at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Wednesday. The day and night matches will pit the nation's top players in a three-way clash as Sourav Ganguly's India Seniors, Anil Kumble's India `A' and Rahul Dravid's India `B' compete for the top honours.

"The boys have had a fairly long camp and they are keen,'' said India coach John Wright.

For the India players it is a matter of keeping up that adrenalin rush which helped them surge into the World Cup final before being humbled by Australia. The Indian players are battling hard to attain a level of consistency that will hopefully help them emerge with smiles in the coming battles against New Zealand and Australia.

"We are all coming in from a long break and we are looking forward to a good tournament,'' said India B skipper Rahul Dravid, while his counterpart at India `A' — Anil Kumble — echoed his sentiments by saying, "we are looking at some tough matches.'' The duo along with Wright spoke after unveiling the TVS Salve Challenger Trophy in the afternoon.

India Seniors led by Ganguly has a clutch of players keen to prove that they can flourish in the one-dayers. V.V.S. Laxman, Hemang Badani, Parthiv Patel, Sanjay Bangar, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Murali Karthik and Lakshmipathy Balaji are busy nurturing dreams of grabbing a place in the one-dayers, while young A.T. Rayudu will fight for his share of the limelight.

India Seniors gained a big fillip as Harbhajan Singh was named in the squad at the last minute. Harbhajan along with Zaheer Khan will lend bite to the Seniors' attack. The off-spinner who has recovered from an injury to his spinning finger was initially rested from the Challenger as the Selectors said that it would be apt to field him in a three or four-day tie rather than in the rough and tumble of one-day cricket.

However Harbhajan's enthusiasm has obviously floored the selectors and as Wright said, "he (Harbhajan) was very keen to play and he will step in for Sarandeep who will now play for India `B'.''

Wright however stated that the possibility of Virender Sehwag playing in the later stages of the tournament hinges on the verdict given by physio Andrew Leipus. Sehwag is undergoing his rehabilitation process after suffering a back injury recently.

On the downside for the Seniors, Aakash Chopra has been ruled out. The Delhi opener busy recovering from a knee surgery was named in the squad but has been subsequently omitted. However Wright hinted that there are enough opening options for his senior squad and stated that Reetinder Singh Sodhi had also exhibited a desire to open.

Reigning champion India `A' led by Anil Kumble has an edge since it has amidst its ranks the man answering to the name — Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. Kumble also has Mohammed Kaif to douse lower-order fires in the slog and while mounting a chase under lights. The greenhorn attack led by young seamers Irfan Pathan Jr. and Avishkar Salvi will look at Kumble to lend depth and experience.

India's leading spinner smarting under his omission from the playing eleven in the World Cup's last phase, believes that he can contribute in his own understated way and the floodlights will acquire a special sheen in case he runs into bowl to Sourav Ganguly in the lungopener — India Seniors vs India `A' - on the morrow.

It is not often that India players are pitted against each other in domestic cricket and the fans might have something to cheer about in the coming days.

In Gautam Gambhir, Wasim Jaffer and S. Sriram, Kumble has a few openers itching to find their way back into the Indian team, while Ajay Ratra is keen to wrest the wicket-keeping gloves. And as Dravid said at the TVS press conference, "people tend to forget that he scored a Test century. All three boys — Parthiv, Ratra and Thilak Naidu — are good. It all depends on how they perform in the next few days.''

Rahul Dravid's resilience in guiding the youth brigade in the end overs should definitely come in handy as he guides India `B' that has just Yuvraj Singh as a player of proven one-day merit in its ranks. Focus will also be on wicket-keeper Thilak Naidu as India's search for a keeper who can bat continues.

Opener S.S. Das needs to break his `fit-only-for-Tests' tag while seamer Ajit Agarkar battling spells of inconsistency, will play shepherd to seamers Siddarth Trivedi and Amit Bhandari while Sarandeep Singh and Sairaj Bahutule also gun for the third spinner's slot in the Indian team. The middle-order also has Vijay Bharadwaj and Dinesh Mongia in its ranks. The duo with a mixed-bag so far, have another opportunity to flourish.

Last year, unfancied India `A' upset India Seniors in the final. And in the next few days, while the three teams slug it out in the middle, a slew of openers and a trio of wicket-keepers will walk the tightrope towards winning the selectors' nod.

The inaugural match will be a benefit tie for former Karnataka off-spinner H. Surendra while the final will be a benefit fixture for former India wicket-keeper Sadanand Vishwanath.

Earlier, at the launch function in the afternoon, TVS Company officials reiterated their commitment in taking a custodial role for nurturing Indian cricket.

The schedule: Sept. 10: India Senior vs India `A'; Sept. 11: India Senior vs India B; Sept. 12: rest day; Sept. 13: India `A' vs India `B'; Sept. 14: Final.

The teams: India Seniors: Sourav Ganguly (capt.), V.V.S. Laxman, Hemang Badani, A.T. Rayudu, Sanjay Bangar, Parthiv Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Murali Karthik, Zaheer Khan, L. Balaji and R.S. Sodhi. Coach: John Wright.

India `A': Anil Kumble (capt.), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rohan Gavaskar, Mohammed Kaif, Wasim Jaffer, S. Sriram, Ajay Ratra, Irfan Pathan Jr., Avishkar Salvi, Mithin Minhas and Ramesh Powar. Coach: Sandeep Patil.

India `B': Rahul Dravid (captain), S.S. Das, Satyajit Parab, Vijay Bharadwaj, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Mongia, Thilak Naidu, J.P. Yadav, Ajit Agarkar, Siddarth Trivedi, Sarandeep Singh, Sairaj Bahutule and Amit Bhandari. Coach: Ashok Malhotra.

Hours of play: 2.30 to 6 p.m.; 6.45 p.m. to end of the match.

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