Acclimatisation will be England's priority

By Nandakumar Marar

MUMBAI, NOV. 17. England's tour opener against the Mumbai Cricket Association Presidents XI heading for a logical conclusion seems unlikely, given the two-day nature of the contest.

A semblance of competitive edge has been infused into the match, commencing at the Wankhede stadium on Sunday, by restricting the first innings to 90 overs, according to MCA officials.

A three-day game may have at least revived Indian interest in the tour, considering Mumbai's track record of intimidating visiting teams and key players through performances.

Now England has ensured against any such shock treatment at the hands of Paras Mhambrey's side since a result in two days appears improbable.

Intensive net sessions over three days has given Nasser Hussain's side an idea of Mumbai's climate, alternating between extremely hot, humid days and cooler nights, with a lot of smoke in the air due to Diwali firecrackers.

The England skipper may want to expose his batsmen to Indian conditions, as the Wankhede track has a reputation for being a bowlers' nightmare. Mumbai has a canny attack, spin being the obvious strongpoint with leg-spinner Sairaj Bahutule and left-arm spinner Nilesh Kulkarni having a reputation of being aggressive bowlers.

Both have a point to prove, having not found a place in either the Board Presidents XI or India `A' squads named to face England in tour games at Hyderabad and Jaipur respectively.

Ramesh Powar, chosen for the India `A' squad, will not be short of motivation (opener Vinayak Mane is also in the squad), while seamer Mhambrey has enough experience to give the English batsmen a taste of their own medicine. The Mumbai skipper stressed on the competitive nature of his team, having benefited from MCA's decision to send the team to Nairobi for a triangular tournament, Kenya and Baroda being the other two sides. Then came further competitions in India, at Hyderabad, Mohali and Chennai.

``After so much cricket, we aren't rusty. I think both teams will take the match seriously because performance counts and in cricket you have got to go out there and perform,'' said Mhambrey, who was part of the Indian side during the 1996 tour. He now plays league cricket in England.

He is a great trier on heartless tracks, the wicket chosen for the two-day one is a green top. The Englishmen don't know what to expect, perhaps, Mumbai has already won the first round. Both teams will announce their final squads on the morning of the match.

Teams (from):

England: Nasser Hussain (capt), Usman Afzal, Martyn Ball, Mark Butcher, Richard Dawson, James Foster, Ashley Giles, Warren Hegg, Matthew Hoggard, Richard Johnson, Jamesh Ormond, Mark Ramprakash, Graham Thorpe, Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan and Craig White. Coach: Duncan Fletcher.

Mumbai: Paras Mhambrey (capt), Wasim Jaffer, Vinayak Mane, Vinod Kambli, Bhavin Thakkar, Amol Muzumdar, Kunal More, Abhijit Shetye, Sairaj Bahutule, Nilesh Kulkarni, Rajesh Pawar, Ramesh Powar, Avishkar Salvi, Rupam Malviya and Sushant Manjrekar. Coach: Lalchand Rajput.

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