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| September 11, 2005 | Sunday | Sha’aban 6, 1426 |
Useful practice for Indians
MUTARE (Zimbabwe), Sept 10: India will return to Harare from mountain valley town Mutare where they got some competitive batting practice ahead of the first Test against Zimbabwe starting in Bulawayo on Tuesday.
India succeeded well enough by playing a token three-day, drawn match against a Zimbabwe Board XI, with seven of their batsmen getting spells at the crease.
Centuries were made by Virender Sehwag (123), Gautam Gambhir (126) and Rahul Dravid 108 not out. The latter retired on his overnight 102 on Friday, but resumed on Saturday to add just another six runs.
Others with more modest contributions, watched by a tiny crowd of about 300, were Anil Kumble with 61, Dinesh Karthik 40 not out, Saurav Ganguly with 46 and V.V.S. Laxman 28, all of them in relaxed fashion.
At one stage of his innings, Ganguly referred to a painful arm and went off for a while before returning.
At least the three-day outing gave the incoming six members of the India Test squad a taste of dry and warm Africa conditions in early summer and at altitude.
The Zimbabwe Board XI were also able to gave the tourists some kind of opposition, scoring 294-9 declared and 96-1, so that the bowlers also had a decent airing.
The surprise element for the home team was Dion Ebrahim’s 169. He had been dropped for the one-day international against India last Sunday after a succession of batting failures.
On that basis Ebrahim will be a first choice for the Test match. The selectors also chose seven others to the Zimbabwe Test squad, to add to six already named.
Summarised scores:
ZIMBABWE BOARD XI 294-9 declared (D.D. Ebrahim 169, K. Dabengwa 60; A. Kumble 5-48) and 96-1 (H. Masakadza 58 not out); INDIA 572-9 declared (G. Gambhir 126, V. Sehwag 123, R. Dravid 108 not out, S.C. Ganguly 46, A. Kumble 61; A.G. Cremer 4-148).—AFP
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