Chance for Indian batsmen
to come good

The Indian cricketers get into the one-day groove, ahead of the upcoming triangular series, with a practice game against Zimbabwe A at the Sunrise Club in Harare on Friday.

India's one-day specialists Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Virender Sehwag and Harvinder Singh, who joined the rest of the team on Wednesday, will use the opportunity to stake claim for a berth in the one-day squad.

The match also provides a chance for the Indian batsmen, who disappointed with a poor performance in the second and final Test at Harare, to gain confidence on the fast and bouncy pitches in Harare.

The Indians will be relieved somewhat by the news that Andrew Flower is ruled out of the entire triangular series with a broken right thumb. He was hurt while collecting the very first ball Andy Blignaut sent down on the fourth morning of the second Harare Test.

Flower's absence will rob the series of much glamour since it was expected that he, along with Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara, would provide a three-way contest for batting honours in the series.

In the absence of the gifted wicketkeeper-batsman, Tatind Taibu is set to make his international debut for Zimbabwe and he should have a useful practice game against the visitors.

Paul Strang, the leg-spinner and a utility batsman, is in the Zimbabwe A team for Friday's game. After being ignored for the Test series, he is keen to make an impression on the selectors.

Also in the reckoning is left arm medium pacer Bryan Strang.

The Indians, meanwhile, had a practice session and a work-out at the gymnasium before skipper Sourav Ganguly left with Sodhi and team physio Andrew Leipus for the CFX Academy ground for nets. The rest of the team followed them along with coach John Wright two hours later.

Tendulkar, who is taking it easy after strain his hamstring, had a few knocks in the middle.

Delhi seamer Ashish Nehra, who has a thigh strain, kept doing specific exercises as prescribed by Leipus.

Nehra has a "crick" in the neck, Leipus said, but there is little danger of him missing any matches in the one-day series.

The teams for Friday's match:
Zimbabwe A: Paul Strang, Gary Brent, Hamilton Masakdza, Stuart Matekendra, David Mutendera, Gavin Rennie, Barney Rogers, Bryan Strang, Tatiend Taibu, Dirk Viljoen and Craig Wishart.

Indians (from): Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, V V S Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Virendra Sehwag, Dinesh Mongia, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Sameer Dighe, Ashish Nehra, Harvinder Singh and Zaheer Khan.

Mail Cricket Editor