09 January 2004	Friday	16 Ziqa'ad 1424

MELBOURNE, Jan 8: Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly has told his lineup to forget the recent split Test series and last year's World Cup final loss to Australia and focus only on the limited-overs tri-series starting on Friday,

Australia and India meet in a day-night clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the tournament opener just three days after their four-Test series ended level at 1-1.

World champion Australia follows that with a day-nighter against Zimbabwe at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday before India and Zimbabwe go head-to-head in Hobart.

"We were beaten by (Australia) in the World Cup, we lost to them in the triangular (series) at home last year. But that is past and we need to carry on the good work of the test series," Ganguly was quoted saying.

Rahul Dravid, voted Player- of- the- Test series against Australia after scoring 619 runs at an average above 123, will fill the role of wicket-keeper in the limited-overs game with Test 'keeper Parthiv Patel expected to miss out on the starting 11.

Virender Sehwag would open the batting with Sachin Tendulkar, Ganguly confirmed, ending speculation that he might promote himself in the order. Ganguly said all 15 players would be in contention during the series, including Rohan Gavaskar, son of Indian great Sunil Gavaskar, who was added to the squad when Mohammad Kaif was sidelined.

The Australian squad traveled from Sydney to Melbourne without Ricky Ponting on Wednesday after the skipper succumbed to an illness the previous night celebrating Stephen Waugh's last Test for Australia.

Ponting arrived in Melbourne on the eve of the tournament opener and said he was certain to be fit, although fast bowler Nathan Bracken was sidelined for the first four matches with a hip strain. Brad Williams was the likely replacement for Australia.

The Australians were undefeated at the World Cup in South Africa last March and dominated a tri-series in India in November, culminating in four consecutive wins over the Indians.

Brett Lee, who took 22 wickets in the last World Cup to finish second in the bowling standings, was sidelined for the limited-overs series in India and returned for the test matches at home, but struggled to take wickets.

However, Ponting said he expected Lee, among the two fastest bowlers in cricket, to return to his best within weeks. "He's done a lot of bowling in the last three weeks since his comeback and he's probably not back to full match fitness just yet either," Ponting said. "In saying that I thought he bowled pretty well with the new ball on a couple of occasions, got a couple of wickets off no-balls, had a couple of catches put down.

"But I'm sure with a few days rest and a bit more bowling under his belt in the next couple of weeks you'll see him come back to his best." Ponting said the test players in the limited-overs squad were "a little bit tired" after a draining series, but should get a boost from the recall of limited-overs specialists Andrew Symonds, Ian Harvey and Michael Bevan.

"They inject a little bit more life into it and I'll certainly be asking them to do that here as well," he said. "But there'll be no excuses from the test players. "We've had a couple of days to recover as well as we can and get up for the start of this one-day series."

Zimbabwe rounded off its preparation for the series with a 119-run loss to Australia A at Adelaide on Wednesday. Zimbabwe's batting stocks have been diminished before the series starts, with Stuart Carlisle hurting his thumb while fielding against Australia A and doubtful for Sunday's match in Sydney. Craig Wishart had already been ruled out of Zimbabwe's early matches due to a knee injury.

The first final in a best-of-three format is set for Feb. 6 in Melbourne.

Squads for Friday's match:

AUSTRALIA: Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist, Michael Bevan, Andy Bichel, Michael Clarke, Jason Gillespie, Ian Harvey, Matthew Hayden, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Damien Martyn, Andrew Symonds, Brad Williams.

INDIA: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, V.V.S. Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Rohan Gavaskar, Parthiv Patel, Ajit Agarkar, Ashish Nehra, Murali Kartik, Anil Kumble, Irfan Pathan, Ashish Nehra, Hemang Badani, Lakshmipathi Balaji.- AP