Bailey keen to keep momentum going

Australia’s T20 skipper George Bailey, who will make his international debut in Wednesday’s match against India here, said the home team was trying to maintain the momentum acquired from the Test matches.

“It's important that we continue the momentum of the Test team, not just in the cricket they played, but in the standards they're setting at their training and the great feel around the group,” Bailey remarked.

The Tasmanian also said Australia were trying to build a platform for the T20 World Cup, to be held in Sri Lanka in September.

“What we're trying to do at the moment is to galvanise this group and let this group know that there's a World Cup in six months, and we're the 14 that have got first crack at proving we should be there,”Bailey said.

“That's one reason to keep that team aspect of it together ... we know that while we're only together for a week, there's something pretty special down the road,” he added.

Bailey’s selection as captain dumping Cameron White has created ripples in Australian circles, mainly because of his modest record in the Big Bash League for Melbourne Stars. However, Bailey exuded confidence of donning the role of captain. “I'm here as captain, it's my team and I'm trying to do things the way I like to do them.

“The beauty is that I get along very well with Mickey Arthur (coach), and I think we have a very similar outlook on things. So, we've worked really well together in the first couple of days.

“The captaining side of things, I'm quite comfortable about that, it's more about getting to know the players as well as I can as quickly as I can,” he said.

Indian skipper MS Dhoni is Bailey’s teammate in the Chennai Super Kings. “I'm looking forward to catching up and saying ‘g’day' to him, but hopefully that's after the game and he's saying ‘well done Bails, well played',” Bailey said.

Dhoni too praised Bailey. “He's an interesting character.  He plays good cricket. He's someone who can play his strokes, and he's very intelligent and understands the game well. He's a really good character to have.”