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Saturday, Nov 26, 2005

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Sport - Cricket

Weather holds the key

K.C. Vijaya Kumar

We hope to get two days of practice: Atapattu

Bangalore : The weather held centre-stage while the Sri Lankan squad and the Board President's XI went through their paces on the eve of the three-day practice match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Friday.

The skies remained dark and with the turf staying damp due to overnight rains, Sri Lankan skipper Marvan Atapattu stated the obvious: "We hope to get two days of practice because unless the sun comes out, the first day's play seems unlikely."

It was an opinion that was echoed later in the day when selector and Board President XI's coach V.B. Chandrashekar said, "We are hoping for at least 180 overs of play as the first day looks unlikely unless the sun comes out blazing."

However weather permitting, the match does present an opportunity for the Board President's XI led by Venugopala Rao to wedge a few names into the selectors' collective memory. The team for the first Test may have already been announced but Chandrashekar stressed that there is room for hope. "It all depends on their performance. Playing well against an international team is always a big plus," Chandrashekar said.

Chance for youngsters

Venugopala Rao, along with opener Dheeraj Jadhav, Shikhar Dhawan and Robin Uthappa,will be keen to present fresh reminder notes to the selectors. The same holds true for southpaws Niraj Patel and S. Sriram, who have piled runs in the first class arena.

Meanwhile, wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel, who has lost his way in recent times, gets another chance to find his way back.

The bowling line-up that features Ranadeb Bose, Gagandeep Singh and spinners Kulamani Parida and Amit Mishra will have to be focussed against the likes of Atapattu, Jayawardene and Sangakkara. With Munaf Patel busy in the Ranji Trophy, the Board President's squad has now been reduced to 11 players.

The Sri Lankans are busy rebuilding their side and have axed Jayasuriya before winging their way back to India for the three-Test series. Losing the one-dayers 1-6 after being tipped to be the stronger side does hurt but Atapattu struck a positive vein.

"We have worked on our strategies. We have never won a Test in India and that is an added incentive. We believe that we can win. We have a few youngsters here and we will give them the breaks," Atapattu said.

Fresh dreams are set to flower but then it all depends on the rains staying away.

The teams:

Sri Lanka: M. Atapattu (capt.), C. Vaas (vice-captain), M. Jayawardene, K. Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, T. Samaraweera, U. Tharanga, A. Gunawardene, C. Kapugedera, D. Fernando, L. Malinga, F. Maharoof, M. Muralitharan, M. Bandara and S. Weerakoon. Coach: Tom Moody.

Board President's XI: Venugopala Rao (captain), D. Jadhav, S. Dhiwan, R. Uthappa, Niraj Patel, S. Sriram, Parthiv Patel (vice-captain), Kulamani Parida, Amit Mishra, Ranadeb Bose and Gagandeep Singh. Coach: V.B. Chandrashekar.

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