The Buzz

The sight of Sreesanth toiling alone at one corner of the Chinnaswamy Stadium as the Australian squad trained 50 yards away seemed somewhat unkind. As he continued with his rehab under the watchful eyes of the NCA trainer, Sreesanth did his best not to get distracted by the action around him. On another day the media would have surrounded him for quips and gossip. On Tuesday even the ever-hungry TV reporters decided to snub him.

Not that the fast bowler was in a mood to face the camera. When a few of us approached him he wasn't willing to open up. Signing autographs silently he acknowledged the greetings. Was he missing the action? "Four months, man. I haven't bowled for four months," he replied. His tone made his disappointment amply clear. But he wasn't giving up. As he walked away he repeated the word "four", suggesting he would be back for the final Test in Nagpur.

Rain over the past few days is making Bangalore feel a bit like Manchester, minus the cold. Forty-one millimetres fell on Monday night and the ground squelched with each step on Tuesday morning, although the locals were pleased with the way the surface had held up. However, more evening showers and storms are predicted for Tuesday and Wednesday. The conditions forced the Australian fast men to operate off short runs in the nets, but Brett Lee and Peter Siddle were able to stretch out on a practice wicket in the centre square. Bowlers rarely worry about their front foot in these situations, but Lee will need to bring his delivery stride back by almost a metre to avoid over-stepping when the match starts on Thursday.

Spin is such a massive weakness for Australia and with Michael Clarke suffering from a stomach problem, they are looking at all options. Even Ricky Ponting spent time delivering offspinners at training in Bangalore, just in case he’s needed.

Jason Krejza has been under heavy scrutiny during the first two weeks of the tour, particularly from Yuvraj Singh in Hyderabad, and there was more extreme focus on him during Australia’s first practice at the ground. Andrew Hilditch, a full-time analyst in his roles as a lawyer and Australia’s chairman of selectors, watched the slow-bowling net for most of the session as Krejza, the offspinner, and Cameron White, the legspinner, tried to convince him they were ready for a debut. Simon Katich, whose left-arm wrist spin could be handy, had a go too.

The Indians reassembled in Bangalore on Monday and were due to practise in the afternoon. Before the session, however, there was a small function at the Chinnaswamy Stadium honouring Rahul Dravid for scoring more than 10,000 runs in both Tests and ODIs. Sachin Tendulkar unveiled a ‘wall’ made out of 10,000 bricks bearing the words class, concentration and commitment. “I am also called the wall,” Dravid had said on a BBC radio show in March. “It doesn’t really bother me. Sometime later, people may write the wall is cracking or the wall is falling.” The wall also has an electronic run-counter which will tick over with every run Dravid scores. The Indians will hope that it ticks furiously in the next month.

From stocking crates of bottled water and energy drinks to popping stomach-lining tablets before their meals, Australian cricketers are doing all they can to beat the heat in India as they prepare to take on Anil Kumble’s men in a gruelling Test series. John Peirik in the Sunday Telegraph offers the visitors a survival guide to the perils of India.

Dealing with the stifling conditions is the top priority. Litres of Gatorade have been ordered along with crates of bottled water will also be used. Players will also have their own individually marked water bottles. Drinks and towels are left in Eskies at fine leg and third man for the bowlers.

Ricky Ponting was an angry man as the third's day play winded to a halt in Hyderabad. The drama happened after the final ball. Michael Clarke had deflected Wasim Jaffer's drive to the stumps where Yuvraj Singh just about put his bat down. The appeal was referred to the third umpire and the players, perhaps not realising how close it was, kept walking towards the pavilion, with one eye on the light.

No signal came. So they all waited. Yuvraj smiled nervously. The TV kept showing replay after replay. It looked pretty close. No light came on though. Some technical glitch and the umpire Amiesh Sahiba got the news on his walkie-talkie. Not out was the verdict from upstairs. Yuvraj smiled and walked away but Ponting marched to the umpire to have an animated chat.

A pre-series camp is like a laboratory, especially if it goes on for as long as five days, a place where the players experiment, observe, and try to make sure they are not taken by surprise when they go out to play the Tests. During their five-day camp in Bangalore, India tried their best to prepare themselves for Australia. There were nets, fielding drills, open-wicket practice, and other such routine stuff, and also a few innovative methods used in the practice.

The most interesting of them was Gary Kirsten’s way of getting the batsmen ready for short-pitched bowling. Kirsten got harder-than-normal tennis balls, and served them, like in tennis, for the batsmen to face. He managed to get the balls to bounce into the ribs of the batsmen. He could also go for the slice serves, which resulted in prodigious outswingers.

Sourav Ganguly's first attempts at getting some practice ahead of the Test series against Australia didn’t go too well, the Times of India reported. Ganguly, who hasn't played competitive cricket since August, has joined India A in Chennai for the Test against New Zealand A. However, there were no quality bowlers when he turned up for his first nets session at the MA Chidambaram Stadium - the other India A players had the day off. He gave up batting after half an hour and turned his attention to slip catching with Dav Whatmore, though that apparently didn't last long because the assistant throwing the balls to Whatmore wasn't very accurate.

Ganguly left without saying much. “Please don't push me. I'm just not in the mood to talk,” he told reporters but Whatmore said he looked “keen and hungry”.