The uncertainly surrounding Sachin Tendulkar's availability vis-à-vis the opening Test was finally laid to rest. "He won't play this one. Hopefully, he'll be fit for the next. We'll miss his experience. Yuvraj Singh will replace him in the XI," said Ganguly.

Gilchrist said he would not allow Tendulkar's absence to affect his team's focus. While admitting that Tendulkar's absence would ease his side of considerable pressure, the stand-in skipper said, "With due respects to Sachin, he has not been the one to have done most damage in the last two series. He has played a few remarkable innings, but it has been the Laxmans and the Dravids who have really hurt us. Sachin is one of the best batsmen I've seen, but the side also has some very good batsmen."

Pitch in focus

The pitch has been in focus for a few days now. Ganguly described it as bone dry. "I haven't seen one so dry in Bangalore. I must say there is a possibility of playing all three spinners," said the skipper. It must be said here that Ganguly hasn't played much in the Garden City.

Watching the Indian team at nets, you realised what they were expecting. The services of local spin bowlers, particularly leg-spinners and left-arm spinners, were used. Former pace ace Javagal Srinath was among the medium-fast bowlers who bowled in the other net.

A few of them operated consistently from around the wicket and pitched it short.

Ganguly said the XI would be decided on the morning. One would logically stick to a settled combination, especially at the top of the batting order, in the opening Test of a crucial series. If Aakash Chopra opens with Virender Sehwag, Ganguly would walk in at No. 4 with Yuvraj at No. 6.

There is also the possibility of the Indian think-tank opening with wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel and Sehwag.

The pair had done duty in the third Test at Pakistan and would provide Ganguly with options, to play an extra batsman in Md. Kaif, who is in form.

No pressure

Gilchrist said he feels no pressure standing-in for Ponting. This will be only his fourth Test as captain.

"Hopefully we'll have Ricky (Ponting) back for the third Test. India is demanding both physically and mentally. But we have planned well. And having been involved in that planning, I'm really excited," he said.

"We have an experienced side and the game runs almost by itself. Steve Waugh and Ponting have shown the boys the direction. I won't change that. I'll use the experience around me," he said.

Speak to the big-made wicketkeeper and you realise that Kolkata 2001 has left an indelible mark in his memory. Gilchrist said aggression is in the nature of every Australian.

"Actually, it was that very aggression that left the door open for India in Kolkata in the last series. Since then, we have had a lot of time to ponder that decision. We have learnt from that experience and have this time around planned on the lines of what we think is the right approach."

"Whether than means being a little more patient, that remains to be seen. Even if we are patient, we have got to maintain strength. Moreover, we also gained a great deal of experience in the sub-continent since," he said.

Plenty of options

Gilchrist said they hadn't yet finalised whether to play three medium-pacers. "There is inclement weather. We'll wait till the morning. I have plenty of options to choose from."

Australia is expected to play three pacers though and have part-time spinners like Darren Lehmann and Simon Katich support trump card Shane Warne. "Michael Kasprowicz stands a good chance, considering he has done well in India," he said.

The question is who would bat at No. 3 in Ponting's absence. There was talk that Gilchrist would. It might just be too much pressure, considering that he is burdened with the cares of captaincy already.

It could be either Simon Katich or Michael Clarke, both considered quality players of spin with Gilchrist coming at No. 7.

The teams (from):

India: V. Sehwag, A. Chopra, S. Ganguly (captain), R. Dravid (vice-captain), V.V.S. Laxman, Y. Singh, P. Patel, I. Pathan, Z. Khan, A. Kumble, H. Singh, M. Kartik, Md. Kaif, A. Agarkar and S. Tendulkar.

Australia: A. Gilchrist (captain), M. Clarke, J. Gillespie, M. Hayden, N. Hauritz, S. Katich, M. Kasprowicz, D. Martyn, G. McGrath, J. Langer, B. Lee, D. Lehmann (vice-captain), S. Warne, S. Watson, C. White and B. Hodge.

Umpires: Messrs S. Bucknor (WI) & B. Bowden (NZ). TV umpire: A.V. Jayaprakash. 4th umpire: V.N. Kulkarni. Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SL).

Living Legend gets emotional taking the Charge –
Alok Gupta

BANGALORE, OCT. 5. It was a journey back in time for Sunil Gavaskar as he alighted from the team bus at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Tuesday.

The last time he was in the Indian team bus was way back in 1987when he was the nation's premier batsman. Today, he is a consultant roped in by the BCCI to plug the latest batting woes afflicting the top-order on the eve of the first Test between India and Australia.

"Once I kept my bat and pads aside, I never thought I could get into the team bus. Yes, today was a bit emotional and it was nice to see some young eager faces inside the bus for a change," Gavaskar said. However, the man, who was the first to scale cricket's version of Mount Everest - the 10,000 run mark - was in no mood to reveal his advice to the batsman at the nets. "It is the first day for me and we will probably discuss at the end of the day areas that we need to improve upon," Gavaskar said.

No problems

On his role as a consultant, Gavaskar said, "I am a consultant and I would imagine that I will be dealing with anything that the team needs to consult me about on any input. Yes it is tough that I have just joined but the advantage is that I have watched the team at the Asia Cup, the Natwest series and the ICC Champions Cup. And the team's personnel are still the same, so I don't foresee any problem."

The alleged connection between Sachin Tendulkar's heavy bat and his tennis elbow did not find favour with Gavaskar. "I don't think it has anything to do with the weight of the bat. What happens in a long innings is that you tend to grip the bat harder and at some point you feel some strain on the top hand. I have had it and even then I had my share of productive series'. So I hope it is the same for Sachin as well," Gavaskar said.

He stressed that Australia will miss Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting. "Australia has lost a massive amount of experience with Steve Waugh having retired and Ricky Ponting having been ruled out. That is an enormous experience on and off the field and it is never easy to recoup that," he said.

Srinath, Prasad chip in

Earlier, Gavaskar watched the Indian team at nets while `retired' Javagal Srinath had a bowl and his pace-partner Venkatesh Prasad chatted up the fast bowlers. "I have been bowling for so many years and it is tough to disengage completely from cricket and I bowled at the nets. I did talk to the players, shared a few thoughts. It should be a good series as Australia is keen to settle scores after nightmarish tours in 1997-98 and in 2001 while India will press its home advantage," Srinath said.

Venkatesh Prasad empathised with the fast bowlers who will bend their backs on a flat pitch that promises spin. "The wicket is absolutely flat and looking at it the fast bowlers will find their confidence dip. I had a word with them on the pitch, the conditions, told them that they should create pressure through dot-balls and be enormously patient," Prasad said.

Hopefully with the presence of Gavaskar, Srinath and Prasad at the nets, some wisdom of the past would have seeped into the Indian team as it gears up for a historical series against Adam Gilchrist's men.