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A chance for the fringe players

S. Ram Mahesh

The match against Sri Lanka ‘A’ may turn pretty competitive

— Photo: AFP

CHANCE FOR THE OTHERS: India’s tour game against Sri Lanka ‘A’ will be ideal for the likes of Ranadeb Bose to stake their claims.

Leicester: Lazy headline writers have, for quite some time now, milked the Test series as a glorious Indian summer.

Writers with a touch of fancy have dwelt on exotica: sunsets compared favourably to golden Indian wheat, strokes described as fit for a maharajah, the spice in the contest likened to mulligatawny.

At stormy Lord’s, and, for a while at cloudy Nottingham, the summer seemed neither glorious nor Indian. That changed slightly with the sun doing its thing at Trent Bridge. Then, India won by seven wickets, ensuring the series can’t be lost. Consequently, the bi-lateral rubber was retained — India won the last decided series between the sides.

But, clinching evidence that the tour has indeed been designed as an Indian summer comes from the schedule. Why else would the three-day practice game against Sri Lanka ‘A’, from Friday, be staged here at Grace Road?

One loses count of the number of Indian shops — hair oil and electronics, dried meat and confectionaries. Any place that serves more chicken tikka masala than fish and chips must be emphatically desi.

Practice games in England are usually against the counties or the second-best England side; Sri Lanka ‘A’ is a touch incongruous, and, understandably, there is very little local interest.

But, there’s every chance the match-up will provide India exactly what it needs: a contest.

Counties, with their commitments to the season, rarely field full-strength sides. Often, such matches degenerate into generous giggle-fests. Good ‘A’ sides, on the other hand, are hotbeds of ambition and intensity: everyone is looking to take the next step. A performance of note against a Test team can’t hurt.

The Indian team will know this. Bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad dismissed a journalist’s suggestion that the match would be ‘easy’.

Fielding coach Robin Singh spelt out the objectives: “Simple, we are looking at playing positive cricket and we are looking at winning the series. We have to make sure we maintain rhythm.

There are a lot of the guys who have sat out and it is pretty sure that they will play in this game, so it is a good opportunity for them to exhibit their talents here.”

Sri Lanka ’A’ — led by Thilan Samaraweera, who desires to add to his 39 Tests — has had a good tour of England.

It started with a ten-wicket win over MCC in a three-day game in early July; since then, the side has lost just one match — a limited-overs game to Lancashire where Sajid Mahmood took five for 16.

The internationals Sri Lanka ’A’ has in its ranks include left-arm spinner Rangana Herath — who thrilled the world with his middle-finger-flicked mystery ball before fading away — Michael Vandort, Jehan Mubarak, Gayan Wijekoon, Malinda Warnapura, and Ishara Amarasinghe, who has the most First Class wickets on tour.

Looking to impress

The Indian team had a two-hour net session here at Grace Road on Thursday morning. More specifically, Wasim Jaffer, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Ishant Sharma, Ranadeb Bose, and Ramesh Powar — all of whom are expected to play — practised.

Captain Rahul Dravid arrived at the nets 30 minutes before the session ended. He spoke with Prasad as he observed Sharma and Bose hassle Yuvraj.

Bose earned nods of approval, even a shout of “good swing, good length” from Prasad, but it was Sharma who impressed most.

The tall seamer looks to have added an inch to his advertised 6ft 4in frame and a yard to his pace.

Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Zaheer Khan, and R.P. Singh are expected to sit out, though Robin Singh said the management hadn’t decided on the playing eleven.

The teams (from):

Indians: Rahul Dravid (capt.), Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, M.S. Dhoni, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, R.P. Singh, Ranadeb Bose, Ishant Sharma and Ramesh Powar.

Sri Lanka ‘A’: Thilan Samaraweera (capt.), Jehan Mubarak, Chamara Kapugedera, Mahela Udawatte, Dilruwan Perera, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Rangana Herath, Malinda Warnapura, Akalanka Ganegama, Michael Vandort, Ishara Amarasinghe , Kaushal Silva, Charath Fernando, Gayan Wijekoon, Dammika Prasad and Chanaka Welegedera.

Hours of play (IST): 3.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m., 6.10 p.m. to 8.10 p.m., and 8.30 p.m. till close.

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