December 2, 2003	Tuesday	Shawwal 7, 1424

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MUMBAI, Dec 1: New Zealand cricket great Richard Hadlee Monday said Indian team, which has roped in Bruce Reid as its bowling coach for four-match Test series against Australia, should not expect “miracles” from former left-arm seamer.

“Reid cannot do miracles with Indian team which does not have a very good bowling strength. He can only work with whatever talent is available at his disposal,” said Hadlee, who is here for launch of the Academy for Cricketing Excellence (ACE) Awards, in which he is a panel member.

Terming India ‘s tour Down Under as a “real tough” one, Hadlee said “the only way visitors can beat Aussies during their Test series is by slowing down the Australian run rate and then improving upon it”.

“Australians try to score 350 to 400 runs per day so that by third day of Test match they will be ready for killer punch. So important thing for Indians is to slow them down and make them earn every run.”

“India’s batting line-up is pretty good. So when batting, they should try to score runs quickly to get psychological advantage over the Aussies,” he added.

“Indians should think positively from the word go as Aussies will make things tough for visitors and if Indians fail to take up the challenge then they will be beaten.”

Meanwhile, given presence of so many former cricketing greats in India, one would have expected Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to appoint an Indian bowling coach for the team currently touring Australia.

But team management and BCCI decided that an Australian, Bruce Reid, would be the better option, said former Indian skipper Kapil Dev on Monday.—PPI