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India feeling the absence of Dravid, Ganguly: Lee

Agencies

Posted online: Saturday , February 09, 2008 at 1543 hrs IST

Melbourne, February 9:: Australian speedster Brett Lee reckons that the young Indian cricket team was struggling to find its feet in the absence of experienced batsmen like Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly.

"It's always tougher for younger guys to come through immediately. Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly played a lot of cricket this summer and were there since the start. The new guys would take some time to find their feet," Lee said.

"Though they are quality players, they have their work cut out," he said referring to India's none-too-impressive show in the previous two ODI matches.

The Australian speedster singled out his side's bowling as a key factor in Sunday's match against India.

"We are bowling collectively good. I took a fiver in Brisbane, Nathan Bracken did it in Sydney. Johnson is proving to be a good back up. James Hopes, Brad Hogg, Andrew Symonds and Michael Clarke, we think we have good options in this area," Lee said.

Lee also said that he stood as good a chance of picking wickets in ODIs as he did in Tests.

"In ODIs, the batsmen look to score and it generally means more chances of picking up wickets. In Tests, you got to be more patient. Variations is the key word. You bowl slower, bouncer, seam, try new things basically all the time," he added.

Lee reiterated that in his book, Sachin Tendulkar was the best batsman going around in world cricket. He was sure that the Indian master would soon find his form in ODI cricket but hoped it wouldn't be against his side.

"He is the best batsman going around. He has had a great summer and he would soon start firing in ODIs too. Hopefully, he wouldn't do it against us. He is not only a great player but also is a great bloke. That is why he is right up there at the top and gets the respect. You generally find out how good a cricketer you are when you play against him."

Though Lee was pretty confident about his side's chances, he did not want to predict who between the two other sides could reach the finals of the CB series.

"Both sides have world class players: Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. We are trying to prepare ourselves as best as we can without bothering about others. We know if we can win tomorrow, our confidence will be sky high when we take on Sri Lanka in Perth."

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Ganguly
by Pradeep on 2008-02-25 14:54:18.978629+05:30
Ganguly and Dravid should come back. They still have cricket in them. We shouldn't dis-respect them as they have been great crickets so long. They will surely make the way to youngsters but before that let them enjoy their cricket.Being cricket lover, I would surely want Dada and Dravid roaring again....
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Ganguly's devine help
by Moni Mohan Paul on 2008-02-10 12:16:39.514299+05:30
Ganguly is obsessed by superstition. He wears a lot of Tabiz in his body. Only another man wears more Tabiz than Ganguly-- he is Bappi Lahiri. After this dropping from ODI team, Ganguly might add more Tabiz in his body to reenter in the team like he did when was dropped earlier by Greg Chappell. How long Ganguly able to stick to the team with the help of his Tabiz and superstition, let us see.
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Determine who is better with the bat.
by ds on 2008-02-09 21:41:53.889282+05:30
Can Raina be considered this time instead of Yuvi or Uttapa? That can be determined by captain at the net. Any new batsmen is a risk and both uttapa/yuvi are not in form.
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Seniors needed ????
by Prathap Chithapuram on 2008-02-09 21:17:13.492485+05:30
Before the series I stated in message for another article that India needs one or two slow playing good technique batsman in the team to stem the flow. That is what exactly was needed in the first two games. I would have preferred to have Laxman on the team over Ganguly and Dravid just based on the form he exhibited in the current tour. My order of choice would be Laxman, Dravid and very very very lastly Ganguly. Ganguly cannot hold an end when a collapse happens where as the other two can. Having stated that, I think the juniors on the team will gain good experience on this tour even though the team will lose. Yuvraj needs to be dropped from the playing eleven as he is hurting the team especially at crucial times. I would preferr see Raina or someone else in his sport as anybody score more than 0 and 1.
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This is the deal Seniors made, keep us in test and keep the juniors out because they are threat
by ds on 2008-02-09 21:26:33.979783+05:30
We are in state because of wrong planning. We could have rotated and tested the juniors and be prepared for 2010 because seniors retire in few years.Gambhir without practice as Laxman, Dravid and other did good!!! Hope he and Tendulkar and Sehwag keep the tempo with good surprise coming from Rohit and Dhoni.
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India is now paying price for Senior Club lobby.
by ds on 2008-02-09 20:55:20.430271+05:30
The senior club disallowed the Juniors to be rotated or tried lest their position be in danger. India is now paying price for it.Lee and Ponting are saying this to shake up the selectors and exploit it in his favour.
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