da cassino： Their moment of reckoning is almost at hand
Anand Vasu22-Jul-2009Their moment of reckoning is almost at hand. Nasser Hussain’s Englandhave just one more tour match to play before they take on India in thefirst Test at Mohali. The Sawai Man Singh Stadium in the picturesquefrontier city of Jaipur plays host to the clash between England andIndia ‘A.’ The visitors arrived here early and appeared to be relaxedand looking forward to the match, while the Sunil-Joshi-led India ‘A’are, in their own right, keen to make a mark.The pitch at the Sawai Man Singh stadium, say experts, is a green-top,hard and bouncy. England however, would do well to eye it with a bitof suspicion. Despite local official Kishan Rungta’s assurances thatthe pitch would be a sporting one, India are famous for showing offgood pitches the day before the match, only to convert them to dustytracks by the time the first ball is bowled.A smiling Hussain was happy with the arrival of Andrew Flintoff.”Flintoff has arrived, and he’s likely to play,” said the Essex andEngland captain. Craig White, who is not one-hundred-percent fit, andhas played the first two warm-up games, is likely to be replaced bythe burly Lancashire all-rounder. But it was not Flintoff’s selectionthat drew interest. Left-arm spinner Ashley Giles is likely to get hisfirst match of the tour. “It’s crunch time for Ashley Giles. Herealises that he has to play and prove his fitness,” said Hussain.With not much to speak of in terms of depth in spin bowling, with justMartyn Ball and Richard Dawson knocking on the doors, Giles is acertainty to play the Tests if fit.Another left-arm spinner, Sunil Joshi, will play a key role in thismatch. Joshi, out of the Indian team for an extended spell, gets hisbest chance of making a comeback. With the possibility of Indiaplaying an extra spinner on top of the Anil Kumble-Harbhajan Singhcombine, Joshi is hopeful of forcing his way into the team. “This is avery important match for me personally, and for the many youngsters inthe team. I’m very happy with the way I’m bowling right now and amkeen to catch the eye of the selectors,” he said.And he is perfectly right when he talks of youngsters trying to prodthe selectors. After all, Rajasthan is not famous only for itsfortresses and camels; it also boasts an opener called Gagan Khoda.With the selectors on the look-out for an opener, Khoda will unfurlhis best attacking strokes. Unlike the other openers who have featuredin the warm-up games so far, Khoda is a natural strokemaker.The other opener on display, Vinayak Mane, is fortunate to have playedagainst this bowling attack at Mumbai in the opening tour match. Withthat experience fresh in his mind, the short-statured Sachin-Tendulkarreplica will look to outclass his counterpart.As with the two games that have passed so far, the forthcoming matchis a clutch game, with several players from the home teams vying forthe slots of third spinner and opening batsman. England desperatelyneed to clean up their act and end the match on a positive note.Whether they can do so or not will determine their psychological makeup when they take the field at Mohali.Teams:England (from): Nasser Hussain (capt), Marcus Trescothick, MarkButcher, Michael Vaughan, Graham Thorpe, Mark Ramprakash, Craig White,Andrew Flintoff, Warren Hegg (wicket-keeper), James Foster (wicketkeeper), James Ormond, Matthew Hoggard, Richard Johnson, RichardDawson, Martyn Ball, Ashley Giles and Usmaan Afzaal.India A (from): Sunil Joshi (capt), Vinayak Mane, Gautam Gambhir,Gagan Khoda, Yerre Goud, RR Parida, Abhitjit Kale, Ajay Ratra (wicketkeeper), Reetinder Sodhi, Iqbal Siddiqui, Dodda Ganesh, Ramesh Powar,NP Singh, S Yadav