Indian news round-up

Australian opener Matthew Hayden on Sunday owed his success on the present tour to the two famous Indian spinners Bishen Singh Bedi and S Venkataraghavan who taught him some valuble lessons during his previous visit to India.

Speaking to the press after scoring his second century on the tour, Hayden said "I developed the sweep, which is a very productive shot and which got me a lot of runs, under Bobby Simpson (former Australian coach)," and added that advice from Bedi and Venkatraghavan in Chennai three years ago had prepared him for this.

Hayden, who came on a tour to India with the Australian Cricket Academy (ACB) in 1998, said "I had also had this stint in 1998 when we talked with Bedi and Venkat on how to play spin, so the preparation helped a lot." On his success with the bat in the first innings at Chennai, Hayden said "I stuck to my game plan and it worked well. It is a special day for all of us and we will be looking to press the advantage from here and bat as long as we can."

Australian specialist One-day batsman Micheal Bevan on Monday lauded the record breaking innings by VVS Laxman saying that it was a superb effort by the Hyderabadi middle order batsman. Bevan arrived in Mumbai late on Sunday night along with Darren Lehmann and Ian Harvey to join the team for the one-day series.

Speaking to Press Trust of India (PTI), Bevan said "no other team in the world could have stopped him in the second Test at Kolkata which the Indians won." Bevan added "There is no doubt the Indians are mentally strong after the win but the Aussies know how to come back from difficult situations."

On Andrew Symonds and Nathen Bracken, Bevan said that they would join the team later at Chennai. Symonds injured his shoulder while packing his bags for the last leg of the Indian tour, while left arm seamer Bracken lost his passport at the last minute.