We can win in Australia – Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly believes the absence of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath could see India clinch their first ever Test series victory on Australian soil. Fresh from victory over Pakistan, India travel to Australia this week hoping to improve on their 2003/04 series draw.

“I think we are the two best sides in the world,” former India captain Ganguly told BBC World Service Sport.

“We did well in 2003 but without McGrath and Warne, I’m sure that will make a difference.”

Australia have played just one series since the retirement of McGrath and Warne – who boast 1,271 Test wickets between them – at the end of the Ashes series last January. Ricky Ponting’s side are currently well clear at the top of the ICC Test rankings, while India are one of four teams vying for second place.

Captained by Anil Kumble, India begin a three-day a warm-up match against Victoria in Melbourne on 20 December, with the first of four Tests starting in the same city on 26 December. Ganguly, currently India’s fifth-highest overall run-scorer in Tests, admitted a trip to Australia is the hardest tour in cricket but claimed India are full of hope.

“It will be a massive series in their backyard, they are a very strong team – probably the best in the world – so we will really have to raise our game if we are to compete,” he said.

Ganguly, who in the past year has make a remarkable return to international cricket after being dropped from the national team in early 2006, says spin bowling could prove crucial. While India have Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, Australia may have to look to one-day specialist Brad Hogg and first choice Stuart MacGill is recovering from wrist surgery.

“All good Test teams have good spinners and for Australia to lose Warne is going to make a difference,” Ganguly continued.

“For us, [pace bowler] Sree Santh will definitely be missed.

But at the same time we have two quality spin bowlers. And out of the four Test matches we are playing at three venues – Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide – which spin.”

“Definitely if we can put runs up on the board that will be the key and put us in a position to get them out.”

While denying that Australia “fear” India, Ganguly insisted the home team will know they face a tough challenge.

“I spoke to some of the other players when they were in India, and they feel we are the only team which competes with them,” he said.

“They have probably beaten most other teams quite easily, apart from the Ashes in 2005, so it is for this reason it will be a tightly-contested series.

“We just want to do well in the four Test matches and take one match at a time.

“Obviously if we can win the series, that will be fantastic. But we know we will have to play really well to do it.

“It’s not impossible.”

India to do their own thing: Shipperd

Victorian cricket coach Greg Shipperd has resisted the temptation to urge India to make a game of their three-day tour match after the corresponding fixture four years ago ended in dispute between the two sides.

Shipperd conceded India were likely to be interested only in gaining three days of practice instead of playing to win at the Junction Oval from Thursday, given it is their only hit-out before the first Test against Australia.

Victoria encouraged India to make a game of their three-day clash during the 2003-04 tour, but the Bushrangers’ then-coach, the late David Hookes, accused then-Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly of reneging on a deal to make an early declaration.

Hookes was annoyed Ganguly did not declare after 70 overs, so in response let Victoria bat well into the third day, which allowed Brad Hodge to post a double century.

Forecast showers could be India’s major headache this match, as their batsmen will want time to acclimatise to local conditions. So Shipperd expected Anil Kumble’s side to want to do its own thing.

“I seem to remember the last time we invited there to be a game played, but the touring team is usually interested in their own preparation,” he said.

“We’ll see how the game unfolds and throw options in if we think it’s appropriate.

“Their business is their business, so we’ll focus on what we can do.

“The way the game pans out may influence them in one way or the other, so we have to wait and see.”

Shipperd expected a well-paced, bouncy wicket at the Junction, which would be more in line with traditional Australian conditions for touring sides.

However India might face a slower pitch at the MCG come Boxing Day, which would be more to their liking. Kumble said Tuesday India were likely to field a strong side on Thursday, however Victoria’s side will be well depleted.

Captain Cameron White and strike bowlers Gerard Denton and Shane Harwood are all sidelined through injury and Hodge is unlikely to be risked after injuring his back in Perth last week. Hodge is in Victoria’s 13-man squad, but Shipperd said he would like his star batsman ready for the domestic Twenty20 campaign in the new year.

“I certainly would like to have him fresh and ready to go for the Twenty20,” he said.

“It’s a competition that allows our state to play at another level, internationally (the new Champions League), if we should get through to the top two and with our best side in we’ve got a very good chance of achieving that.”

Despite the injuries, Shipperd promised the Bushrangers would take the match up to India.

“Look, they might be vulnerable to the Australian cricket team, but I’m not sure they’d be too threatened by Victorians,” he said.

“But we’ll certainly come out and play some good quality cricket, I’m sure, and surprise them.”

Victoria (from): Brad Hodge (capt, fitness permitting), David Hussey, Aiden Blizzard, Aaron Finch, John Hastings, Nick Jewell, Michael Klinger, Andrew McDonald, Bryce McGain, Robert Quiney, Peter Siddle, Matthew Wade, Allan Wise.

BCCI releases details on how it will sell IPL

India’s cricket authorities released terms for owning teams in their proposed Indian Premier League, projecting the franchises as both a profit-making business opportunity as well as platforms for corporate branding. The prospectus, however, doesn’t set any minimum bid price for tenders set to be floated later this month.

 

BCCI vice-president and chairman of Indian Premier League, Lalit Modi Successful bidders will get to keep 80% of revenues in the first two years of operations.

Their share gradually goes down to 50% in year 11. Revenues are expected to be generated through television rights, sponsorships, tickets, food and other sales as well as premium and box seats.

The 75-page document, which comes with interspersed pictures of cricketers, notes that the league’s format of just 20 overs per team is one that is now most preferred by fans of the game. It claims that 76% of Indian cricket fans favour it over one-day matches and five-day Test matches and notes how it will get high television ad rates.

During the recent India-Pakistan cricket series, Test matches shown on channel Neo Sports attracted Rs3 lakh for a 10-second spot while one-day matches got Rs5.51 lakh for a similar slot.

But, a similar spot during the final of the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa earned broadcaster ESPN Star Sports Rs800,000, the prospectus notes. The league will be “a must have, prime time content for broadcasters” who will have 12,744 10-second ad spots during a typical season, the prospectus said.

Other than suggesting what ad spots might sell for, the prospectus gives little clues on suggested prices for those aspiring to buy teams. “The bid will require each bidder to state the total franchisee fee they are offering for an initial 10-year period,” it says.

In earlier interviews, the league’s chairman and vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Lalit Modi, had said the price would be $50 million (Rs198 crore). The league will take “cricket to a whole new level that once upon a time ago seemed like a fool’s dream,” Modi wrote in the prospectus.

“It means we finally revive domestic cricket.” Apart from the franchise fee, a bidder would have to pay player and staff salaries, stadium leases, security, travel and accommodation.

The league will publish an intention to tender (ITT) later this month and the auction of players will follow immediately after the franchises have been awarded. The ITT will name cities and stadium terms with bidders allowed to bid for multiple locations.

The league is scheduled to begin in April at the start of India’s fiscal year when new advertising and marketing budgets kick in. Some major sponsors of cricket had mixed reactions to owning teams.

One top official at Pepsico India Holdings Pvt. Ltd, who didn’t want to be named, said his company wasn’t interested and that “our calendar is full.” A Bharti Airtel Ltd spokesperson said it was “premature” to discuss buying a team. Future Group chairman Kishore Biyani said: “There would be a very strong chance we will participate.”