Wright - 'It's important Sachin does well'

Sourav Ganguly and John Wright were guarded in their optimism when they spoke to the press for the first time after landing in Australia. For a change, the conversation centred on the cricket ahead rather than the bribery scandal that has held the attention of the media in the last few days.

Wright spoke of the importance of Tendulkar doing well. "It's important Sachin does well. There's no doubt about that. I think it's important for the series and for all cricket lovers in Australia. He's an outstanding player and he's brilliant to watch when he's going. What he has shown in the past is a liking for the big occasion, and this certainly is one of those stages."

In his typical manner, though, Wright also made it clear that there was more to this Indian team than just Tendulkar. "What we have tried to do, though, is develop our team so it doesn't depend completely on Sachin being the main man all the time. That's one of the things we've done and we have got some quality players in the batting line-up. If he were to have a moderate day, we would expect someone else to make a score."

For his part, Ganguly said that this Indian team had learnt how to win abroad. He singled out the mediumpacers for praise. "I'm really looking forward to the seamers because they've really done well overseas." On the subject of seamers, Sky Sports report that Ganguly is still keen on using the services of Wasim Akram as a bowling coach.

Akram will be in Australia as a television commentator, and Ganguly wants him to help Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Irfan Pathan, the three left-arm seamers in the Indian squad. "There are a lot of sentiments attached to Wasim ... it's a bit of a sensitive issue," Ganguly said. "We would love to have help from him because he's probably one of the best fast bowlers I've seen. We'd love to have him in the nets to look after the boys."