We need to repeat Mumbai show to win the Test series -- Warne

We need to repeat Mumbai show to win the Test series -- Warne
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Kolkata, March 9: Australia’s star leg spinner Shane Warne said on Friday that his team was capable of fulfiling their long cherished dream of a series win in India if they continued to play in the manner they did in Mumbai.‘‘If we can play the way we did in the first Test in Mumbai, we can hope to win the Test series in India,’’ Warne told reporters at the Eden Gardens here after a practice session.

‘‘We want to keep things rolling. The team has been playing well of late. Things are going on nicely for us. We want to clinch the series at the Eden Gardens,’’ he said.

Asked whether he had worked out any particular strategy for the Indian batsmen, the ace leg spinner said ’’I bowled quite well in the first test in Mumbai. I just want to carry on the good work here. I just want to go and try and take the wickets’’.On the Eden Gardens track, Warne said that the pitch looked ‘flat and good’ for a test match. ‘‘I have seen the wicket. It looks a good cricketing pitch. I think it will favour the batsmen but I expect a little turn towards the end’’.

Indian team manager Chetan Chauhan, who talked to reporters after practice session, said the team had analysed the last game and had planned out certain strategies for the second test beginning on Sunday.

He said that the Australians had not been put under pressure during their last 16 test victories and it remained to be seen how they performed when the chips were down. ‘‘All we need is a break. It can change everything. Besides, the law of average is bound to apply to the Australians’’, he observed. Chauhan said the morale of the team was high despite the ten-wicket defeat in the first test in Mumbai.

Waugh brothers, teammates play Holi with Udayan kids

Petals of rose and marigold were showered over Australian skipper Steve Waugh by the inmates of Udayan, a home for children of leprosy parents, as they played Holi with the celebrated cricketer.

Waugh, who took time off his busy cricketing schedule to visit Udayan at Barrackpore, near the metropolis, seemed in great spirits as he mingled freely with the inmates for about 90 minutes.

The Aussie skipper, who raises fund for Udayan, was accompanied by his twin brother Mark, dependable batsman Justin Langer, stumper Brad Haddin and coach John Buchanan much to the delight of the inmates who gave a spontaneous and tumultous welcome to the Australian cricketers. Waugh gifted biscuits, chocolates and pencil boxes to the children.

Broadening the smiles on the faces of the inmates, ‘Uncle Steve’ also had a photo session with them. An atomsphere of gay abandon took over the lush green fields of Udayan, as the Aussies readily agreed to some of the boys’ wish to play cricket with him. Lacing entertainment with fun, the children staged a cultural show for their guests and kept them enthralled with soulful strains of violin and a touching folk dance performance.