Indians begin preparations for 7-match ODI series

Barring Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Ishant Sharma, the other members of the team had a stint at the Mumbai Cricket Association’s Bandra-Kurla Complex on Tuesday afternoon.

Overseeing the preparation was coach Gary Kirsten, who arrived in Mumbai from South Africa.

The Australian squad, led by Ricky Ponting, too reached the Indian shores on Tuesday and is set to have a two-day practice session at the BKC from Wednesday ahead of the first one-dayer in Vadodara on October 25.

Both teams are scheduled to leave for Vadodara on October 23. The other matches are scheduled at Nagpur (October 28), Delhi (Oct 31), Mohali (Nov 2), Hyderabad (Nov 5), Guwahati (Nov 8) and Mumbai (Nov 11).

Australia had beaten India 4-2, with one-match washed out, in the last series played between the two sides in India two years ago.