The strong Indian batting line-up which includes the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and skipper Sourav Ganguly will begin preparations for the first Test against Australia facing an experimental Victorian side in a three-day match beginnning at Melbourne on Tuesday.
With just two warm up games before the Brisbane Test that begins on December 4, India have chosen to let their frontline batsmen hit early form on the daunting tour by including all of them against Victoria Bushrangers tomorrow, even if that means one or two bowlers would miss out on a critical opportunity.
The twelve announced by Ganguly does not include left-arm paceman Irfan Pathan, veteran leg-spinner Anil Kumble and reserve openers Deep Dasgupta and Sadagoppan Ramesh.
"We have not ruled out five bowlers in matches ahead but for the present, it will only be four bowlers against Victoria with a toss-up between Ajit Agarkar and Laxmipathy Balaji for the last spot," Ganguly said.
India went with five frontline bowlers against Australia in the triangular series final in Kolkata and there is a growing belief in the side that Australians must not be allowed to run away with a huge total which would put the Indian batting under enormous pressure.
Ganguly also gave a vote of confidence to Delhi opener Virender Sehwag who recently appeared all at sea against Australian bowlers and who has shown his distaste for lifting deliveries.
"Sehwag will surely open in the game tomorrow," Ganguly said with a touch of finality.
The match is critical for wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel for even though he has been allowed a headstart over Dasgupta, there is every possibility the Bengal wicketkeeper could come into the picture because of his superior batting ability against fast bowling.
All this against a Victoria side which is an experimental one and intended to keep tourists underprepared for the fast bowling demons who lay in wait for the Test encounters.
Even though both Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath have been ruled out for the first two Tests, Australia has enough fast bowling reserves as was seen in the performance of Nathan Brackan and Brad Williams in India recently.
Victoria has "rested" its bustling fast bowler Michael Lewis who was the state's leading wicket taker last summer with 33 scalps. Only yesterday, Lewis prowess was again on display against Western Australia in the Pura Cup where he took five wickets.
Even though Lewis is 29, he is improving with every season and is a lively seamer who looks threatening even on placid wickets. He represented the Prime Minister's XI against England last season.
Lewis is replaced by Brett Harrop who took 10 wickets in a second eleven game last week but the youngster is still to play a first class fixture. He would thus cut his teeth at a higher level tomorrow.
Mercifully, Victorian XI includes red-haired left-arm quick Matthew Innes who is not express but persistent and not far below national honours. He is 25 and took 28 Pura Cup wickets last season.
India will face an interesting leg-spinner in Cameron White who bowls much like Anil Kumble. He is only 20 but is very mature and a former Australian under-19 captain. He even led Victoria in both forms of the game this season in the absence of regular Darren Berry who returns to take his appointed place against the Indians tomorrow.
Even though Victoria has done everything it could to deny Indian batsmen some decent practice against its better bowlers, it has included its top artillery in batting in a bid to inflict some early damage on the confidence of visiting bowlers.
Jason Arnberger is a local batsman whom Rahul Dravid would remember well as the prolific Victorian batter spent the off-season this year in Scotland, as did the Indian star as a professional. He hit 700 runs last season, including three hundreds.
Matthew Elliott is an Australian reject who averages around 50 from his 143 first class games, including 36 centuries. Brad Hodge is one of the most senior batsman of the side who spent the summer in Leicestershire -- alongside Sehwag -- smashing 1427 runs at 67.95 with a highest score of 302 not out.
Then there is David Hussey who, despite his tremendous strike power, ironically, is remembered as the fielder who dropped Steve Waugh on four in a Pura Cup game against New South Wales early this season. The Australian captain went on to make 211.
But one Victorian cricketer who Indians would remember well is Ian Harvey who starred for Australia's title triumph in the TVS Cup final in Kolkata last week, taking four wickets.
Teams:
India: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Aakash Chopra, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Parthiv Patel, Ajit Agarkar, Laxmipathy Balaji, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra.
Victoria: Darren Berry (captain), Cameron White, Jason Arnberger, Matthew Elliott, Brad Hodge, Jon Moss, David Hussey, Ian Harvey, Andrew McDonald, Peter Roach, Brett Harrop, Mathew Inness, Brendan Joseland.
