Target Australia

Buoyed by the impressive performances of the Indian seamers over the past five months, coach John Wright hoped that the good run would continue when India tour Australia for a four-Test series later this year.

"Our seamers have been doing a good job and can do well on the Australian tour," said Wright, whose contract was extended by one year earlier this month. "Our fast bowlers were very effective during the World Cup and one of the main reasons for our success.

"Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Ajit Agarkar have been bowling well and it is also good to see youngsters like Avishkar Salvi come through."

Salvi, whose high-arm action has drawn comparisons with Glenn McGrath, made his international debut in the TVS Cup in Dhaka, and looked the part, taking four wickets in his first three matches at an average of 24.

Wright was in no doubt about Salvi's potential. "Salvi is an outstanding propect, has really added to the bench-strength and will give that much more confidence when the team is playing outside the subcontinent."

Wright was more cautious when asked for his views on the other newcomers in the Indian team. "We will know more about the players with each game. The advantage of having A teams is that we have players who have played abroad already. Quite a few of them can play at this level." Gautam Gambhir, Abhijit Kale and Amit Mishra are three players who made it to the senior team after impressive displays on the A tour to the West Indies.

Despite the success in recent times, Wright was quick to point out that the Indian team could not rest on its laurels. "The challenge is to move on from where we are. Things can change very quickly and it is important that the selectors sit down and work things out for the future."