India ease into tour with low-key contest

India will have their first on-field action on their tour of Australia on Thursday, December 15, when they take on a Cricket Australia Chairman's XI in a two-day game.

Peter George, who made his Test debut against India in Bangalore last year, and Tom Cooper, who played for Netherlands in the World Cup, are the best-known faces in the Chairman's XI side. Ed Cowan, one of the candidates for a batting slot in the Australian squad, was to originally captain the side but was pulled out to represent his Big Bash League side. Cowan, and other bigger names in Australian domestic cricket, like David Warner, Phil Hughes, Usman Khawaja and Doug Bollinger, will be in for India's second tour game, which begins on December 19.

Not a first-class game, India's first outing is expected to allow all the specialist batsmen in the squad to have a hit and all the specialist bowlers to bowl. However, the second half of India's touring party reached Canberra only in the wee hours of Wednesday, so it is possible the likes of Virender Sehwag might be rested. "We would like to give our youngsters an opportunity of course; some of us haven't played much cricket over here," MS Dhoni, the India captain, said. "It's slightly different, so we will try to make the most of it."

Medium-pacer George, whose first Test wicket was Sachin Tendulkar, said his side will provide decent opposition to the tourists. "We definitely don't want to give them a nice walk in the park," George said. "Cricket is definitely a game of momentum, and if you start to get on a bad roll it tends to snowball a bit, so if we can manage to do our bit to help the Aussies and peg the Indians back in these games it would be good."

Dhoni also said the game was important in terms of building momentum. "The first game is always important; if you have momentum on your side it always [builds up]," he said. "You don't really want to lag too much behind right from the very start, so a good start is crucial."

This is India's first overseas trip after they were whitewashed in England, where their insufficient preparation came in for sharp criticism. Dhoni said that aspect can be ruled out this time. "We are here close to 12 days early and if 12 days are not enough then one month wouldn't be enough so we have to adapt to the conditions."