Australia half expect India to name banned batsman Gautam Gambhir in the team for tomorrow’s fourth Test in Nagpur. The tourists are set to name off spinner Jason Krejza for a white-knuckle debut in a match they need to win to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, on a grassless pitch that has all the hallmarks of a slow, low and dusty turner.
However, the main issue entering a match that has the added sidelights of Sourav Ganguly’s retirement, VVS Laxman’s 100th Test and Mahendra Dhoni’s first as fulltime Indian skipper, surrounds whether or not the home side would be brazen enough to name Gambhir despite the ICC’s verdict that he is banned from the Test after the failure of an appeal.
Dhoni said he was “almost sure” that Gambhir would not play.
Should Gambhir be chosen, no-one seems to know what will unfold, but it seems impossible for match referee Chris Broad or the Australians to sanction an XI that includes him, creating a flashpoint that could mean anything from a changed team to a cancelled Test.
CA officials in Melbourne were more confident than captain Ricky Ponting in their belief that the ICC’s authority would hold.
“We expect that Gambhir won’t play tomorrow,” a CA spokesman said.
Ponting was bracing himself for 24 hours of fevered negotiations and international phone hook-ups as CA and the ICC work to avoid a repeat of the 2001 farce at Centurion Park in South Africa.
On that occasion India named Virender Sehwag despite a ban for excessive appealing and the Test against the Proteas was declared unofficial after referee Mike Denness was locked out of the ground.
“Gambhir’s not playing yet but we’ll wait and see what the team sheet says tomorrow morning,” Ponting said warily.
“It is pretty important, I think, that CA have a clear stance on that whole issue.
“It is going to be an awkward situation for me to be put in tomorrow if I get out to do the toss and a guy that has been rubbed out has his name on the team sheet.
“It does appear that they haven’t (accepted the decision). We have to be prepared for both, we have to be prepared that he’s not going to play, we’ve got to be prepared that he is going to play.”
Ponting was hopeful that the sheer volume of distractions for India, who today were reinforced by Gambhir’s shadow player Murali Vijay, would play into the hands of the visitors.
Krejza is likely to be the only change to the Australian XI for tomorrow, given that Stuart Clark remains an integral member of the side despite taking only two wickets for the series.
While weighing up his options, Ponting admitted Krejza would probably have been a useful bowler to have on a turning Delhi surface that proved of great assistance to Indian part-time off spinner Sehwag.
“Jason was very close last game and as things turned out probably would’ve been a bit of a handful late on that wicket as well,” Ponting said.
“I went down to the ground yesterday and had a little look at the track. As we expected there’s not a blade of grass to be seen anywhere on the wicket, it’s very, very bare and I think at different times in this game it will spin, so we have to consider Jason very heavily.”
Probable teams
INDIA: Mahendra Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Murali Vijay, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, S Badrinath (12th man).AUSTRALIA: Ricky Ponting (capt), Matthew Hayden, Simon Katich, Mike Hussey, Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Jason Krejza, Stuart Clark, Cameron White (12th man).
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.
Probably the most popular Aussie in Wales, Marnus Labuschagne rarely lets down the fans at his Glamorgan "second home". The Test batting maestro was…
RCB were initially questioned after bringing Maxi on with the new rock. It worked a treat as he dismissed Ruturaj Gaikwad first ball.
Faf du Plessis took one of the catches of the tournament as Royal Challengers Bengaluru qualified for the IPL playoffs with a 27-run win.…
Jonny Bairstow wants to never mention it again and Alex Carey got sick of hearing about it but the firestorm surrounding their dramatic incident…
Arjun Tendulkar fell victim to the humidity as he cramped up, but he wished he had taken himself off as he delivered two gifts…
New Zealand took 28 years to win a Test match, finally triumphing in 1956. There were plenty of skilled individuals before that but not a complete team.
