Not taking depleted Australia lightly: Ishant
SYDNEY: Bracing up for the “biggest opportunity” to win a maiden Test series Down Under, India’s Ishant Sharma on Tuesday also cautioned that Australia is good enough to cause problems, regardless of the turmoil in its cricket.
The Border-gavaskar Trophy begins in Adelaide on December 6, with the Indian team bedding in for preparations at the Sydney Cricket Ground and taking on Cricket Australia XI in a fourday tour game from Wednesday.
“In cricket whoever is playing for the country is good enough. Till the time we get the results, we don’t take anything lightly.
“We are pretty motivated. The aim right now is to win the series and that is what everyone is focussing on.
“We don’t even think of personal performances, just one aim, to win a series in Australia,” said Sharma.
India were whitewashed 4-0 when they were here the last time, though current captain Virat Kohli made his presence felt with plenty of runs.
“The tour game is serious because it will set the tone for us. You get to know the conditions because you are playing here after a long time. So you can get into the groove and get used to the conditions,” he added.
A lot of onus will be on the Indian pace attack to deliver the goods again after their terrific performances in South Africa and England earlier in the year.
Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri have praised them time and again as the ‘best pace attack’ in Indian Test history. “I think it’s a great opportunity to do well in any conditions. We did well on the last two tours of South Africa and England. We are not even thinking like we have a pressure situation. Instead, we always think that we have an opportunity to do well,” said Sharma.
PRACTICE GAME
On their previous overseas tours to South Africa and England, India have baulked at the task of playing tour games against weakened opposition.
Cricket Australia XI isn’t a first-team by any stretch of the imagination, but Sharma pointed out that the visitors are focussing more on what needs to be done rather than the quality of opposition.
“I never think too much about all these things because if you go with this kind of feeling then you relax a bit,” Sharma said about the tour-game opponents.
“Our bowling combination depends on wickets and conditions. So it is very early to talk about combinations. Right now we are talking about how to make most of the practice game.”
CLARKE ADVOCATES TOUGH CRICKET
SYDNEY:FORMER captain Michael Clarke has advised the current side to “play tough Australian cricket” in the home Test series against India, saying too much emphasis on being nice guys on the field will lead them nowhere.
Australian cricketers, who are known to play ruthlessly, have consciously toned down their on-field aggression in the aftermath of the ball-tampering scandal.
The mellowed down approach has drawn criticism from World Cup winning skipper Clarke.
“Australian cricket, I think, needs to stop worry about being liked and start worrying about being respected. Play tough Australian cricket. Whether we like it or not, that’s in our blood,” Clarke was quoted as saying by Macquarie Sports Radio.
“If you try and walk away from it, we might be the most liked team in the world, we’re not going to win s***. We won’t win a game. Boys and girls want to win.”