Last updated: 6th October 2008
Ganguly: respects Australia
Australia is a fantastic side, everyone knows that.
Sourav Ganguly
Quotes of the week
Sourav Ganguly has warned his India team-mates not to underestimate Australia ahead of their four-Test series.
Australia struggled with both bat and ball during their drawn final warm-up fixture against the Indian Board President's XI in Hyderabad.
The main concern for the tourists is their inexperienced slow bowling options - either off-spinner Jason Krejza or leg-spinner Cameron White is likely to debut in the series opener, which starts in Bangalore on Thursday.
Australia have been hit by the retirements of Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne over the last 12 months, but Ganguly is of the opinion that they remain a 'fantastic side'.
"I hope no one is getting excited by what happened in Hyderabad," said the experienced left-hander, whose outspoken nature has seen him enjoy plenty of battles with Australia over the course of his 109-Test career.
"Australia is a fantastic side, everyone knows that. They will be ready when the first ball is bowled in the first Test in Bangalore on Thursday.
"We will have to be at our best to beat them. They are the world's number one side, but I think India too will be equal to the challenge.
"It should be a very good contest."
Ganguly's team-mate Virender Sehwag, however, has a very different outlook, suggesting India could win the series comfortably - if the pitches are conducive to spin bowling.
"If we play on spin-friendly tracks, the series might go 3-1 in our favour," Sehwag told CNN-IBN.
"In my opinion, they have a quality pace attack but don't have quality spin bowling.
"I have seen their off-spinner (Krejza) who gave 123 runs in 20 overs (in the first innings) against the Board President's XI.
"I think we will go after him."
| Fixture |
|---|
| Friday 5th December |
| Champions Twenty20 League |
| Middlesex vs Pretoria |
| IPL Jaipur vs Sialkot |
| Tour Match |
| TBC vs England |
| Saturday 6th December |
| Champions Twenty20 League |
| Pretoria vs Victoria |
| Natal vs Western Australia |
| Middlesex vs IPL Chennai |
| Sunday 7th December |
| Champions Twenty20 League |
| IPL Jaipur vs Western Australia |
| IPL Chennai vs Pretoria |
| Natal vs Sialkot |
| Monday 8th December |
| Champions Twenty20 League |
| TBC vs TBC |
| Result |
|---|
| Sunday 30th November |
| 1 Day Intl Series |
| Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka Sri Lanka won by 19 runs. |
| Friday 28th November |
| 1 Day Intl Series |
| Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka Sri Lanka won by 2 wickets. |
| Test Match Series |
| Australia vs New Zealand Australia won by an innings and 62 runs. |
| Wednesday 26th November |
| 1 Day Intl Series |
| India vs England India won by 6 wickets. |
| Test Match Series |
| South Africa vs Bangladesh South Africa won by an innings and 48 runs. |
| Monday 24th November |
| 1 Day Intl Series |
| Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka Sri Lanka won by 5 runs. |
| Sunday 23rd November |
| 1 Day Intl Series |
| India vs England India won by 19 runs. |
| Saturday 22nd November |
| 1 Day Intl Series |
| Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka Sri Lanka won by 9 wickets. |
| Thursday 20th November |
| 1 Day Intl Series |
| Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka Sri Lanka won by 6 wickets. |
| India vs England India won by 16 runs. |
Nasser Hussain says England's return to India sends a strong message of support to India's people.
Bumble is ready to fly out to India again - and says it's time to move on for the sake of the victims.
Brendon McCullum keeps ahead of the pack in the Sky Sports International Sixes League.
India have announced their 15-man squad for the scheduled two-Test series against England in December.
Kevin Pietersen is confident the Test series in India will go ahead, but a final decision will be made on Sunday.
Chaminda Vaas has been recalled to the Sri Lanka Test team to face Bangladesh, but was left out of the one-day squad.
Yorkshire's Adil Rashid has been added to the England performance squad travelling to Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
Middlesex will follow England's lead in not forcing any of its players to travel to India for the Champions League Twenty20.
Comments
Kirpal Panesar says...
Its always nice when Sehwag is confident but the last time he said he felt like he will hit a double century in an ODI game and after that he slumped and even lost his place in the side for a while. Still, I hope he does well, and more so I hope its a good !series with plenty of heat.
Posted 18:39 6th October 2008
Manuvelpillai Prinsly bonypas says...
I think as Sehwag said that India will beat Australia quiet comfortably this time. But I wish this could be the end of many legends in Indian cricket team to leave way for young players. I think the big loser here is Yuvraj Singh. He is an excellent player without much test matches in his account. He should be a regular player in the Indian team.
Posted 16:21 6th October 2008
Vish Sharma says...
Well said Sehwag...we shud not be afraid of Australia no matter what...they are not unbeatable....we did it before in 2001...and they had all the legends playing for them.
Posted 14:45 6th October 2008
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