India keen to strike form early

Dhonis men kick-off campaign with a three-day practice match against Strauss-led Somerset

Six of the Test reinforcements at various stages of the series had to straightaway get into action without match practice following the Indian Premier League. They had little time to acclimatise and the rustiness was evident in many of them. But for a less than adequate West Indian bowling and the sea of experience of Rahul Dravid, India could have found themselves in some trouble in the opening Test.

 Evidently, England, ranked third and looking to topple India from the top of the rankings, are a much stronger side and more so in their home conditions. And so, the three-day practice match against Somerset here at the picturesque County Ground from Thursday ahead of the four-Test series assumes a greater significance.

Back to their near-full strength — only Virender Sehwag is missing from their ranks — India would look to make the most of the practice match. The rival team, to be led by England and Middlesex skipper Andrew Strauss, in itself may not give sleepless nights to the Indian players but a good outing in alien conditions at the start of the tour should give them the much-needed confidence ahead of bigger battles. 

 The importance of the match can be judged from the fact that Strauss, going through a lean patch, has opted to lead the rival team -- an unusual instance in county cricket -- to get some runs under his belt while Somerset’s prolific skipper Marcus Trescothick has taken a break.

Strauss has been under scanner for some time now and his poor run of scores against Sri Lanka and his struggles against left-arm pacemen have definitely sown seeds of doubts in his minds about deliveries shaping into him.

 Strauss’ form will be crucial to England’s fortunes and Zaheer Khan, who has had some measure of the southpaw in the past, will be keen to keep him on a tight leash. While it’s a bold decision on Strauss’ part take on Zaheer at the beginning of the tour, there is every chance that the move can boomerang. However, it could well be possible that India may opt not to play Zaheer just to keep the surprise element going.

After an optional practice session on Wednesday, the Indian squad came in full force for Thursday’s session. But their opposition will not be in full force. Trescothick is off to Lord’s for a disciplinary hearing while left-arm spinner Murali Kartik won’t be fielded. Neither is wicketkeeper-batsman Craig Kieswetter likely to feature in the side.   
  
Even so, Somerset, currently ranked fourth in the nine-team Division One, have a string of players that have been in impressive form this season. Opener Arul Suppiah, the Malaysian-born right-hander, has over 450 runs so far and has forged big partnerships with Trescothick. Nick Compton, grandson of England great Denis Compton, and James Hildreth, both with over 400 runs, have provided meat to the middle order. And then there is all-rounder Peter Trego. With 321 runs and 17 wickets he has been able lend balance to the side’s composition.

 While the slow-medium pace of Trego has been useful, Somerset’s bowling has mainly been shouldered by right-arm paceman Steve Kirby and left-arm quick Charl Willoughly who have 35 and 30 wickets respectively from nine matches each. These are impressive figures and they should provide the Indians with some much-needed work out over the next three days.