Wright expects Australia to bounce back at Mumbai

John Wright, the Indian coach, expects a fierce battle as India prepare to take on Australia in the fourth one-day international of the TVS Cup on November 1 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

India prepare in expectation of a resurgent Australia © AFP

Wright said that he was impressed with the young Australian fast bowlers who skittled out the New Zealand batsmen for a paltry score of 97 in the previous match at Faridabad.

"Australia took full advantage of the conditions like any international side should. We know they will come back (against India) in Mumbai. It will be a tough game," he said.

Wright indicated that India is likely to stick with the same team that played at Gwalior. "I would not envisage wholesale changes for the game against Australia in Mumbai," he said. He also confirmed that Ashish Nehra would not play in the match. "Nehra has been practising. He is one of those bowlers who will certainly play when he is fit. We want to see as much of him as possible but we do not want to rush him either, because he is very important to us.

"He has been bowling in nets and working with Andrew Leipus. So that way he is very fit. He may come into consideration for next three games," Wright added. Earlier, Nehra also spoke to the media and indicated an imminent return to action. "I want to play the last four games but it depends on the team management and the selectors," said Nehra, who has been practising with the Delhi Ranji squad.

A lot of fringe players have been turning up for the team's training sessions, which Wright said was a policy adopted by the team. "We try to encourage as many players to attend sessions with the team. Nehra is helping us here. (Sridharan) Sriram turned up in Chennai. Aavishkar Salvi will also be seen here. In consultation with the selectors, we try and help them whenever possible," Wright said.

Though Sourav Ganguly is recovering from a minor surgery and will miss India's next game at Cuttack as well, the team has shown no sign of missing him. Wright said "I spoke to Sourav two days back and we are obviously very keen to have him back. But we will have to see how it goes in the next few days. Sourav is the best judge."

Wright also said that Yuvraj Singh's promotion in the batting order at Gwalior was solely Rahul Dravid's. "Ask the captain. He makes the changes ... the batting and the bowling changes. That is my style of coaching. I can make a suggestion, but the captain takes the final decision. Yuvraj is a very destructive batsman in the last 15 overs of the game. The captain took the decision, and it was a good choice," he said.

Wright also said that one-day cricket is all about being flexible with the batting and bowling orders as and when required. "You have to be flexible enough to see the need to make a change and do it," he said. "Reacting to whatever is happening on the field is very important."