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A round-up of the second round of Quaid-e-Azam trophy matches

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jan-2013
ScorecardWith Atif Maqbool’s 13-wicket haul, Karachi Whites handed Abbottabad a crushing defeat by an innings and 145 runs in Karachi. Trailing by 313 in the first innings, Abbottabad lost all their wickets for 168 in the second innings, out of which seven were scalped by Maqbool.When Whites started the third day, they already led by 218 runs and Saeed Bin Nasir and Fawad Alam scored another 95 runs together before declaring the innings. Abbottabad openers put on 41 together, but once the opening partnership was broken, they lost their last eight wickets for 98 runs as Khalid Usman was reported absent hurt.Karachi Whites picked up nine points from the win which takes them to top of the table in Group II.

ESPNcricinfo’s preview of the one-off Twenty20 between Australia and West Indies in Brisbane

The Preview by Brydon Coverdale12-Feb-2013

Match facts

Joe Burns might make his international debut for Australia•Getty Images

February 13, Gabba
Start time 1935 (0835 GMT)

Big Picture

Three years ago, Cricket Australia’s chief executive James Sutherland suggested that Twenty20 was such a specialist game that the day might come when Australia could have completely separate Test and T20 teams playing on opposite sides of the globe at the same time. Effectively, that day has arrived, although this one-off occurrence is not quite what Sutherland had in mind. Australia’s Test players have now flown to Chennai to prepare for the first Test against India, unquestionably the correct priority. But the packed schedule means they still need to put out a national team for this T20 against West Indies at the Gabba, without David Warner, Shane Watson, Matthew Wade, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc and Xavier Doherty, to name but a few.Apart from the captain George Bailey, it is hard to say for certain how many members of the squad for this match would be part of Australia’s first-choice T20 side. Shaun Marsh, perhaps. James Faulkner might soon get to that point, and so might Aaron Finch. And that’s about it. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, although the fans buying tickets for the Brisbane match might disagree. A year out from the next World Twenty20, it gives the selectors a chance to have a look at some men who could push their cases. There is the uncapped quartet of Ben Rohrer, Joe Burns, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Coulter-Nile, there is Faulkner, Ben Cutting, Ben Laughlin and Clint McKay, all jostling to become regular members of the T20 attack, while the batsmen Adam Voges and Aaron Finch hope to make the most of their last opportunity of the international summer.For West Indies, this is a chance to finish on a high after a miserable five-match ODI series. They are the reigning world champions in the Twenty20 format and there is no question that the short matches suit their dynamic style. But after such a lacklustre display in the 50-over games, can they switch on for their last outing of the tour?

Form guide

(Most recent first)
Australia LLLLW
West Indies WWWTL

In the spotlight

Ben Rohrer is a classic example of the national selectors having rewarded Big Bash League performances. A solid if not spectacular batsman for New South Wales over the past few years, Rohrer, 31, delivered with the utmost consistency for the Melbourne Renegades this summer. He didn’t fail to reach double figures and scored 34 not out, 27, 18, 30 not out, 52, 35, 57 and 42, which put him fifth on the competition run tally. His strike rate of 152.06 was also the highest of any of the BBL’s top 20 run scorers this season. His challenge is to show the selectors that this should not be a one-off appearance dictated by circumstance.On Sunday at the MCG, Johnson Charles scored his first century in any form of elite cricket during the fifth and final one-day international. It is true that he rode his luck and his technique has so many holes that Phillip Hughes’ looks pure by comparison, but Australia’s bowlers must consider Charles a danger at the top of the order. If Chris Gayle is ruled out through injury, Charles becomes all the more important.

Team news

The uncapped Queensland and Brisbane Heat batsman Joe Burns has joined the squad as cover for Adam Voges, who suffered a hamstring niggle during his century in the fifth ODI in Melbourne. Voges will be given until just before the match to prove his fitness, while the captain George Bailey, who also has a sore hamstring, is likely to play. Ben Rohrer will make his debut and the fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile also has a strong chance of playing his first international. Australia’s main question is which of the fast men to leave out.Australia (possible) 1 Aaron Finch, 2 Shaun Marsh, 3 Adam Voges / Joe Burns, 4 George Bailey (capt), 5 Ben Rohrer, 6 Brad Haddin (wk), 7 James Faulkner, 8 Nathan Coulter-Nile, 9 Ben Cutting, 10 Clint McKay, 11 Ben Laughlin / Josh Hazlewood.West Indies are again waiting on the fitness of Chris Gayle, who has not played since hurting his side during the third ODI in Canberra. Their main question is around the make-up of their attack. Tino Best has not played a Twenty20 international but must be strongly considered after his fearsomely quick bowling over the past couple of ODIs.West Indies (possible) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Johnson Charles, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Kieron Pollard, 5 Dwayne Bravo, 6 Narsingh Deonarine, 7 Devon Thomas (wk), 8 Andre Russell, 9 Darren Sammy (capt), 10 Sunil Narine, 11 Kemar Roach / Tino Best.

Pitch and conditions

The Gabba always provides plenty of runs in the shorter formats. Unfortunately, the weather forecast indicates that there could be a shower or two in Brisbane in the late afternoon and evening.

Stats and trivia

• Australia’s attack is so inexperienced that the leading wicket takers are Ben Laughlin, Clint McKay and Adam Voges, who each have two T20 international wickets
• Chris Gayle needs another 15 runs to reach 1000 in T20 internationals

Quotes

“Every game as a group is important … in terms of trying to maintain some structure and continuity”

“We are the Twenty20 champions and the last time we played Australia we completely outplayed them and that’s the type of motivation we’re going to take into the last game on this trip.”

Plenty of fans and pundits back home had questioned the selection of Henriques. And by the end of his innings of 68, he had silenced a few critics

Brydon Coverdale22-Feb-2013As he walked out to bat in his first Test innings, Moises Henriques felt like his legs were made of jelly. The first-afternoon pitch looked like something that had been played on for a full five days already. R Ashwin was spinning Australia into a trance. Wickets were falling much too quickly for their liking. Plenty of fans and pundits back home had questioned the selection of Henriques, not that he was thinking about that as he walked out. Still, by the end of his innings of 68, he had silenced a few critics.In the post-war era, only three other Australians had scored as many as Henriques on debut from No.7 or lower. Two of those men, Greg Chappell and Adam Gilchrist, went on to become legendary figures in Australian cricket. The other, Greg Matthews, had a more than handy career over the course of a decade. Of course it is much too early to judge what sort of Test player Henriques will become, but he has made a fine start. If he can add a few wickets he will be hard to budge for the rest of this tour at least.Throughout his innings he batted with the captain Michael Clarke, who must have been impressed by the patience displayed by Henriques during his 132-ball innings and their 151-run partnership. Clarke, who in the lead-up to the match said batsmen who made a start in this series could not afford to throw it away, will be pleased with the way Henriques admonished himself after falling lbw to a sweep.”I certainly think I had the opportunity to make it my best innings [in all cricket] but it was a little bit disappointing, I really wanted to get through the day and make sure we finished five wickets down,” Henriques said. “I could have been a little bit more ruthless at the end. But if someone said you’re going to have 60-odd on debut I’d take it.”He didn’t try to copy Clarke’s nimble-footed approach against the spinners but he benefited from his captain’s ability to throw Ashwin and his colleagues off their rhythm. Henriques said Ashwin had been a handful but he believed the pitch would also offer some assistance for Australia’s fast men, given that Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar both found some reverse swing as the day wore on.”He [Ashwin] is a little bit taller and puts some really good work on the ball, the ball is fizzing and can bounce or not bounce, or spin or not spin,” Henriques said. “But the other [spinners] are still really disciplined. It wasn’t their day today but guys like Harbhajan have taken 400 Test wickets and come day three or four when the wicket is really starting to play some tricks, they’re certainly going to come to the game.”[There was] not much seam movement or anything like that but both their quicks were getting it to reverse and I think with our quicks they’ll probably penetrate the wicket a little bit more than what those guys did. Hopefully with guys like Jimmy [Pattinson] and Peter [Siddle] and Mitch [Starc] with a little bit more airspeed, there [will be] reverse swing. The key with reverse swing is to try to bowl to new batsmen with it and be smart with your fields.”Henriques batted on a surface that threw up clouds of dust whenever the players kicked away a stone, and it will only become much more difficult to bat on as the match progresses. Australia reached 316 for 7 at stumps and if Clarke and the tail-enders can push the total up towards 400 on the second day, India might have their work cut out for them.”The footmarks and the loose ground out there is something like a three-day wicket,” Henriques said. “Even back home in Australia you wouldn’t see that on day three or four. To have that loose soil out there, come days four and five the ball’s going to start playing some tricks.”

Shakib Al Hasan has expressed confidence of being fit and available before Bangladesh’s tour to Zimbabwe in April

Mohammad Isam25-Mar-2013Shakib Al Hasan has expressed confidence of being fit and available before Bangladesh’s tour to Zimbabwe in April. He has been out of international cricket since November last year with a stress fracture on his shin.”Hopefully I will be fit and available before the tour of Zimbabwe,” Shakib said in Dhaka. “I started running from yesterday (Saturday) under the guidance of [National Academy trainer] Stuart Karppinen and did not feel any discomfort.””But as far as my cricketing fitness is concerned, I am still getting there because I haven’t yet started batting or bowling. By next week, I will start with bat and ball to regain the fitness required to play at competitive level.”Shakib underwent an operation on his right calf in Sydney last month as a result of which he missed Bangladesh’s tour to Sri Lanka.Bangladesh have been setback by a spate of injuries. After Shakib was ruled out of Sri Lanka tour, Enamul Haque Jr, Naeem Islam, Shahriar Nafees, Mashrafe Mortaza, Shafiul Islam, Nazmul Hossain and Tamim Iqbal have all pulled out of the tour at some stage.Shakib blamed the cricket schedule for the long list of injuries. “If you look at the calendar, you’ll notice that we have been playing a lot of cricket lately, both domestic and international.”So these kinds of injuries can happen on a regular basis. But at the same time, this helps newer players to get opportunities,” he said.

It took just 42.2 overs on the third day for West Indies to clinch the second Test, sweep the series, win six Tests in a row and inflict another surrender to spin on Zimbabwe

The Report by Siddhartha Talya22-Mar-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Shane Shillingford was unstoppable in his hometown•WICB Media Photo/Randy Brooks

It took just 42.2 overs on the third day for West Indies to clinch the second Test, sweep the series, win six Tests in a row and inflict another surrender to spin on Zimbabwe.The hosts promptly declared during a 15-minute rain delay in the morning, and a solid start from the Zimbabwe batsmen was a hugely misleading prelude to what was to follow. Once again, Zimbabwe failed to sustain a promising phase of play long enough against a superior opposition. Shane Shillingford was their nemesis again, picking up 10 wickets in the match, several of which owed to the unsettling bounce he was able to extract from the track in his hometown.The strategy for West Indies was simple, having successfully employed it in the first Test and the first innings in Dominica. The spinners, Shillingford, brought on in the 13th over, and Marlon Samuels, who picked up six wickets in the game, got the ball to turn, and more crucially bounce, from the off stump, surrounded the Zimbabwe batsmen with close-in fielders, who snapped up what came their way or had their team-mates in the outfield ready for opportunities borne out of a desperate attempt to find a release.Vusi Sibanda and Brendan Taylor countered that pressure temporarily by sweeping Shillingford, Sibanda even struck him for six over deep square leg, but it was only a matter of time before the spitting bounce that proved Zimbabwe’s undoing throughout the series returned to trouble them. Taylor was caught on the glove when Shillingford held his length back and caught at short leg.

Smart stats

• West Indies’ victory is their sixth in a row. They have won two each against New Zealand, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Since the start of 2012, they have won six and lost four matches (two draws).

• The win is West Indies’ sixth in eight Tests against Zimbabwe. The two draws came in Tests played in Zimbabwe.

• Shane Shillingford’s haul of 19 wickets is the highest by a West Indies bowler in a two-Test series. He is also the first West Indian and 14th overall to take three or more five-fors in a two-Test series.

• Shillingford’s 10 for 93 is his career best and the best bowling performance for West Indies against Zimbabwe, surpassing his nine-wicket haul in the previous Test in Barbados.

• Shillingford’s 10 for 93 is also the fifth-best performance by a West Indian spinner.

• The win is West Indies’ second by an innings since 2009. It is only their sixth innings win since 2000 (two each against Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and England).

Taylor’s wicket marked the start of the spinners coming to dominate the innings, but Tino Best and Darren Sammy did their bit to end Zimbabwe’s early resistance. Best was guilty of bowling too short, and Sibanda had cashed in, slashing hard through the off side and even driving handsomely for boundaries when the ball was pitched up, as he did against Shannon Gabriel. But Best went round the wicket to Hamilton Masakadza, who was also set, got him to seemingly glove one down the leg side, reviewed the “not out” decision and got it overturned. A possible reason for the third umpire to reverse the original call was a change in rotation of the ball as it reached Masakadza’s glove, indicating there may have been contact.Minutes earlier, in the same over, Masakadza had successfully reviewed another caught-behind decision, this time having been given out, though the evidence, in the absence of Hot Spot, was again inconclusive.Just two balls after Taylor had been sent back, Sibanda played a rash shot across the line to Sammy to be trapped in front, his failed review confirming the ball would have clipped the bails.With the top order out of the way, Shillingford and Samuels eased past those that came after. Sean Williams got a top-edge while trying to play a cut against Shillingford, to be caught at point, and the capitulation picked up speed following the lunch break. Craig Ervine survived 34 balls but was caught brilliantly by Chris Gayle diving to his left at slip to pouch an edge with one hand. The extra bounce in the track brought the backward short leg into play and Malcolm Waller found that fielder when he tried to work Samuels away off the back foot. Shillingford had, six overs earlier, dismissed Tino Mawoyo, forced to bat at No.7 after missing a good part of the second day’s play, in the same region.With Waller, perhaps Zimbabwe’s best batsman in the limited-overs series this tour, back in the pavilion, West Indies required just four more overs to wrap up the innings. Graeme Cremer’s stand-out shot was a six over long-on with his eyes staring at the ground at the point of, as well as after, impact, but inside-edged a catch towards midwicket trying the same stroke to give Shillingford his fifth wicket. It was also Shillingford’s tenth for the match and 19th for the series – the best returns in a two-match series for a West Indies bowler, going past Courtney Walsh’s 16 in New Zealand in 1994-95.Paul Jarvis and Tendai Chatara lasted just two deliveries, Samuels hastening the end of a mismatch that continued West Indies’ best run of consecutive victories in Tests – now six – since 1988.

Marcus Trescothick blasted eight sixes in a whirlwind 87 to lead Somerset to an emphatic eight-wicket win over Unicorns in a one-sided game at Taunton.

05-May-2013Somerset 184 for 2 (Trescothick 87, Trego 75*) beat Unicorns 183 for 8 (Elstone 75*, Meschede 2-15) by 8 wickets
ScorecardMarcus Trescothick blasted eight sixes in a whirlwind 87 to lead Somerset to an emphatic eight-wicket win over Unicorns in a one-sided game at Taunton.The hosts needed only 15.3 overs to chase down a target of 184, with Trescothick making his runs off just 49 balls and opening partner Peter Trego smashing 75 not out off 38 deliveries, with 10 fours and four sixes.Scott Elstone’s 75 not out was the backbone of a Unicorns total of 183 for 8 after losing the toss. Tom Lancefield hit 38, while Craig Meschede was the pick of the Somerset bowlers with two for 15 from his eight overs.The result was never in doubt once Trescothick and Trego cut loose with a brutal attack on the Unicorns bowlers. Trescothick hit four sixes off consecutive balls from Josh Poysden and three in succession off Garry Park. He was finally caught at long-off and the successful bowler Paul Hindmarch had Jos Buttler taken at backward square-leg off his next ball.But by then the outcome had been settled. Trescothick ended with seven fours to go with his abundance of sixes, at times appearing to flick to ball over the ropes with nonchalant ease.Despite the best efforts of Lancefield and Elstone, Unicorns were never able to gain the necessary momentum to their innings in excellent batting conditions.Former Surrey batsman Lancefield impressed at the top of the order, finding the boundary four times in his 42-ball innings. But Trego struck twice in the first seven overs, sending back Lewis Hill and Michael O’Shea with only 32 on the board.Lancefield departed with the score on 65, caught behind to give Meschede the first of his two wickets. The second was former Somerset favourite Keith Parsons, also taken by wicketkeeper Buttler, for a third-ball duck, having received a rousing ovation from home fans.In between Meschede’s wickets, leg-spinner Max Waller had Park caught at deep square off a slog sweep for 22 and it was left to Elstone to boost a modest total with some quality shots, including a six over long-on off Lewis Gregory.

Max Sorensen completed his maiden five-wicket haul in first-class cricket during the 16 overs possible before rain wiped out the second day against Australia A in Belfast

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jun-2013
ScorecardMax Sorensen completed his maiden five-wicket haul in first-class cricket during the 16 overs possible before rain wiped out the second day against Australia A in Belfast.The Australians reached 312 for 9 when the players were forced off and they did not return before play was called off at 4pm. Steve Smith and James Pattinson took their seventh-wicket stand to 157 while Sorensen and Trent Johnston shared the nine wickets to fall.As had been the case on the opening day the new ball did the damage. Smith had moved to 133 when he edged a delivery from Johnston that nipped away.Pattinson reached his half-century from 108 balls but three overs after Smith’s departure he edged Sorensen to give him his notable haul. Sorensen was also involved in the ninth wicket when he held the catch offered by Nathan Lyon and that was the last action of the day.The rain meant that the appearance of legspinner Fawad Ahmed was delayed but the forecast for the final two days is more settled.

On the opening day of the Ashes, it was Middlesex’s Australian import Adam Voges who stood firm to deny Warwickshire a three-day win after the hosts were forced to follow-on in Uxbridge.

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Jul-2013
ScorecardAdam Voges is putting Australia’s poor showing in the Champions Trophy behind with•AFP

On the opening day of the Ashes, it was Middlesex’s Australian import Adam Voges who stood firm to deny Warwickshire a three-day win after the hosts were forced to follow-on in Uxbridge.Voges, a 33-year-old right-hander from Perth, followed his sublime first innings 150 with a stoic, unbeaten 15 in 83 minutes as Middlesex limped to 147 for 5 in their second innings and still trail by 30 going into the final day.Having conceded a first innings deficit of 177, Middlesex were batting again just after lunch on the third day after being dismissed for 309 – just 28 short of surviving the follow-on – and were soon on the slide once more.Only 16 deliveries into their second innings left-hander Dawid Malan attempted to cut against Chris Woakes only to chop the ball onto his middle stump.Then, just before tea, Sam Robson fenced a Boyd Rankin lifter to Rikki Clarke at second slip to bring together former Kent team-mates Neil Dexter and Joe Denly.After a sticky start the pair added 68 inside 15 overs before Dexter (36) aimed to drive at Barker and only feathered it through to the keeper.Voges, batting again before 5pm and with his side still 72 runs in arrears, then watched as Denly edged onto middle stump, while John Simpson fenced at a Rankin lifter to be caught behind just before stumps .Resuming on their overnight first innings score of 177 for 4 and requiring a further 160 to avoid the follow-on, Middlesex made a steady start through Voges and John Simpson.They posted a record fifth-wicket partnership for Middlesex against Warwickshire eclipsing the county’s previous best of 175 set by Paul Weekes and Jamie Dalrymple set at Edgbaston in 2004.Then, with their stand worth 180, Simpson, shuffling forward to Jeetan Patel’s skidding arm-ball, went leg before for 63 to make it 208 for 5.In the next over, Voges moved to a 151-ball hundred with 13 fours with a single against left-arm seamer Keith Barker.He became only the seventh Middlesex batsman since to score a first-class hundred on debut since Edward Lyttelton took a hundred off the Australians at Lord’s in 1878.Voges was the first to achieve the feat for the county since his fellow countryman Phil Hughes achieved the feat against Glamorgan at Lord’s in 2009.However, it was Warwickshire who were soon celebrating when Gareth Berg followed the next ball from Barker outside off and edged through to keeper Tim Ambrose to go without scoring.
Barker was soon in the action again, taking a sharp low catch at short square leg to send back Ollie Rayner off the bowling of Patel. Tthen in the next over, Barker had Toby Roland-Jones (nought) caught at first slip off an airy drive.With Chris Wright out of the Warwickshire attack with a back strain, Voges reached his 150 after lunch from 215 balls but, having helped add 72 in tandem with Ravi Patel, he danced down the pitch to clip a return catch to Jeetan Patel off a full-toss.The hosts posted a third batting bonus point before their last man Corey Collymore drove a catch to mid-off, leaving Ravi Patel unbeaten on a career-best 26 as Warwickshire enforced the follow-on.

Jason Holder, the West Indies fast bowler, has few batting credentials to brag about, but was confident he could hit the 15 runs needed off the final over

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jul-2013Jason Holder, the West Indies fast bowler, has few batting credentials to brag about, but was confident he could hit the 15 runs needed off the final over to win the third ODI against Pakistan. The No. 11 Holder managed to crack 14 to miraculously tie a game which West Indies seemed destined to lose, when they needed 39 off the final three overs with only two wickets remaining.Holder powered a four over cover and a six over extra cover off Wahab Riaz in the final over before scampering two off the last delivery to level the scores. “I know my hitting area and I knew exactly the area I was targeting. I kept looking at the field and I knew the bowler would offer width on the off-stump,” Holder said. “With my reach I knew I could make good contact and I backed myself to win the game. Coming close to the end I was focused on getting the runs.”Kemar Roach, who was involved in a similarly tense finish against India three weeks ago, was on the non-striker’s end in the final over. Though the more experienced Roach faced only one ball in the final over, Holder said Roach’s role was crucial.”I have to give a lot of credit to Kemar,” Holder said. “He had a lot of faith in me and he told me ‘you can do it!’… we both believed and in the end it was quite good to get the runs and at least come away with a tie.”Before Holder’s heroics in the final over, Lendl Simmons had shepherded the chase with his 75, but was dismissed in the 46th over with West Indies still some way away from victory. “I’m a bit disappointed that I was not able to carry on and win it for the team,” Simmons said. “I was playing really well, but got out at a crucial stage in the run chase.”Sunil Narine then gave West Indies an outside chance by lashing 14 off five deliveries off Saeed Ajmal in the 48th over. Ajmal had proven miserly before the over, with figures of 9-1-21-2, but the boundaries from Narine kept West Indies in the game.”Credit to Sunil and Jason for the way they played in a pressure situation,” Simmons said. “They are two of the younger members of the team and they really held their nerve … their batting was superb. At one stage it looked like we could not reach the target but they played the big shots, under pressure, and pulled off a great tie in the end.”The crowd at Beausejour Stadium was delighted with the result, but Pakistan coach Dav Whatmore could be seen fuming in the Pakistan dressing room. Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq was also unhappy at letting the match slip after having been on top for much of the game. “It’s really disappointing, we were in a really good position but the way Holder played, he took the game away from us,” Misbah said. “We bowled too many full deliveries to the tailender … but hats off to them, they played really well.”

Zimbabwe coach Andrew Waller was cautiously optimistic about his team’s chances in the five-match ODI series against India starting Wednesday

Liam Brickhill in Harare23-Jul-2013Zimbabwe coach Andy Waller was cautiously optimistic about his team’s chances in the five-match ODI series against India starting on Wednesday, which also marks his first international assignment as head coach. Waller took over from Steve Mangongo, who had held the position in a caretaker’s role until the end of the home series against Bangladesh in May.”All along we’ve prepared and hoped we might surprise them in one of the games,” Waller said. “You’ve got to be realistic, but as long as we’re competitive and do the best we can.”Our guys are hugely excited about this. It’s a great experience for them, and we’ve been preparing knowing that the best side in the world are coming. I think the guys are up for it. Hopefully all the hard work we’ve put in in the last nine weeks is going to pay off.”Waller also confirmed that veteran left-arm spinner Ray Price is part of the Zimbabwe squad. “Price is in the squad, I don’t know why he wasn’t named in the original list,” said Waller after the team’s nets session on Monday.While Price has been included, it is highly likely that this series will be his last for Zimbabwe. The 37 year-old has played just one international this year, and with national contracts up for renewal soon, the departure of one of their most experienced players seems imminent.Price’s 140-game international career stretches all the way back to 1999. He appeared to have been lost to Zimbabwe when he took up a contract with Worcestershire following the clash between the board and players in 2004 but he decided to return to the fold in 2008 and since then has embodied the team’s tenacious spirit. He has helped to instil some backbone to the bowling group during some difficult years and Zimbabwe probably owe him the chance to say goodbye.A couple of India’s senior players are absent from this trip, foremost among them their captain MS Dhoni, but Waller stressed the visitors’ strength in depth and rejected any idea that Zimbabwe considered the squad a depleted one.”I think they’ve just got so many players,” he said. “With the new guys who’ve come in, I don’t think there’s a huge difference to be honest. We know that they’re all very good cricketers, so we don’t look at it like a weakened attack at all.”Waller has been working with a training squad for the last two months, having brought in Yorkshire fitness coach Tom Summers following the departure of long-time trainer Lorraine Chivandire. Waller has made fitness one of his top priorities and Zimbabwe’s intensive training session, which stretched over several hours, was at odds with India’s.The visitors will still have been slightly jet-lagged, having arrived on Sunday night, and were tasked with nothing more than some light fielding and a relaxed football match during their afternoon session.Apart from their training camp, Zimbabwe’s preparations included a three-day game against Australia A this weekend that the visitors won by 80 runs. Zimbabwe’s batsmen failed to complement the hard work of their bowlers, who had utilised the bowler-friendly Country Club pitch very well.Waller suggested that the batsmen would have an easier time at the Harare Sports Club, where the first three ODIs will be played before moving to Bulawayo.”We’re not shaken at all,” insisted Waller. “It was quite an interesting wicket [at Country Club], quite a difficult wicket. I think the guys are actually quite positive about it, because they were a damn good bowling side. And I think we know it’s a lot harder batting on the wicket there than it will be at Sports Club. “