MUMBAI, JANUARY 30: The improving Indo-Pak cricketing relations will get another boost when an India A team cross the border tomorrow for a 45-day tour of that country. It's the first time since 1988-89 that the two teams will be meeting on their own soil for a full-fledged series.The Indian A team's manager (Surinder Khanna) and captain (Gagan Khoda) were upbeat after the conclusion of the side's five-day training session at the Barbourne Stadium today.
While admitting that the series ahead would be tough, they nevertheless opined that the Indian team had the potential to match their counterparts. ``It is a challenge for everybody. But we have men with international experience like Debashish Mohanty, Sairaj Bahutule and Noel David,'' said the 23-year-old Khoda, whose has led Central Zone and Rajasthan.
The team received words of wisdom from several former Test cricketers. The national team's senior team captain Mohammad Azharuddin also practiced with them during the earlier phase of the camp and spoketo the players.
Khoda said the presence of two former India players in the form of manager (Khanna) and coach (Krishnamachari Srikkanth) is a big advantage.
While Khoda said that ``a good performance in Pakistan will always count'' Khanna felt that ``it's a good opportunity for the boys to prove their mettle.''
The former Indian wicket-keeper said an additional wicket-keeper would have been handy for the squad has only one specialist wicket-keeper in MSK Prasad.
Khanna, who was in-charge of the camp along with former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) coach Vasu Paranjpe, said that fielding is one of the strong points of the side.
Paranjpe, however, felt that the team's attack may be its shortcoming. ``The batting looks quite impressive and the only area of concern to me is the bowling,'' he said.
He stressed the importance of the tour, vis-a-vis the India A versus Australia match, by saying: ``Against the Aussies, it's our bowling which would be tested and not the batting. The visitingbowlers will be trying to get acclimatised to the conditions here and may not go flat out. It would be a matter of two innings against the visitors, while in Pakistan the boys have a great opportunity.''
On the issue regarding replacements in case any player is selected in the senior team for the series against Australia, Khanna informed: ``The consensus is that if any India A player is selected for the National squad he will be flown home and a stand-bye from India flown to Pakistan.''
Krishnamachari Srikkanth, the captain when India last played a series in Pakistan, along with Reetinder Sodhi would be joining the team a couple of days after it reaches Karachi. The former India opener was in-charge of the under-19 Indian team that competed in the World Cup in South Africa.
The team would play the `Tests' at Rawalpindi (Feb 13-16), Peshawar (Feb 24-27) and Sialkot (March 7-10) before taking on their rivals in the three one-day matches at Lahore (March 13 & 15) and Karachi (March 17). The squad is alsoscheduled to play four three-day tour games at Karachi (Feb 3-5), Peshawar (Feb 8-10), Rawalpindi (Feb 19-21) and Lahore (Mar 2-4).THE TEAM
Gagan Khoda (captain), Sairaj Bahutule (vice-captain), Wasim Jaffer, Nikhil Haldipur, Abbas Ali, Jatin Paranjpe, Rohan Gavaskar, MSK Prasad (wicket-keeper), Sanjay Raul, Murali Karthik, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Ajit Agarkar, Noel David, Debashish Mohanty and N Madhukar.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
