MELBOURNE, Nov 24: Indian captain Saurav Ganguly was hopeful on Monday Pakistan cricket legend Wasim Akram would be able to help his left-arm pacemen during the tough Australian tour starting this week.

India begin preparations for their four-Test clash with world champions Australia when they meet the Victorian state side in a three-day game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Tuesday.

Wasim, now retired from first-class cricket, will follow the tour as a commentator.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India last week strongly denied reports Wasim would be appointed the national team’s fast-bowling coach.

Tensions remain high between the countries, and Ganguly agreed on Monday it was not straightforward to have a high-profile former Pakistan player working with the Indian Test team.

“There are a lot of sentiments attached to Wasim ... it’s a bit of a sensitive issue,” Ganguly said.

“We would love to have help from him because he’s probably one of the best fast bowlers I’ve seen.

“We’d love to have him in the nets to look after the boys.”

Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra, both chosen to play against Victoria, and fellow tourist Irfan Pathan are all left-armers who would benefit greatly from Wasim’s tuition.

Leg-spinner Anil Kumble will miss the opening game because of ‘flu, while Sadagoppan Ramesh and Deep Dasgupta will also sit out the match, along with Pathan.

Accepting the difficult nature of this series, Ganguly conceded India would lose matches — but he was prepared to put up with setbacks if his side could upset the world’s champion Test team in the big games.

“They’re a very good side, the best side in the world, and to be honest in the last one and a half years, they’re the only side we’ve not played well against,” he said.

Squads for match starting on Tuesday:

Victoria: Cameron White (capt), Jason Arnberger, Matthew Elliott, Brett Harrop, Ian Harvey, Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Mathew Inness, Brendan Joseland, Andrew McDonald, Jon Moss, Peter Roach (12th man to be named).

India: Saurav Ganguly (capt), Ajit Agarkar, Akash Chopra, Rahul Dravid, Zaheer Khan, V.V.S. Laxman, Ashish Nehra, Parthiv Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar (no 12th man named).—AFP