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Australia face their first challenge on their tour to India from the 25th of September in the form of a three day practice match against the Indian Board President's XI at Mohali. The men from Down Under will use this to try and get a grip on the pitch conditions and will also try and get into some form ahead of the first test, incidentally at the same venue. The Board President's XI on the other hand will try and strike a psychological blow to the Australians and the players will use it as an opportunity to push for any vacant spots in the Indian test squad in the near future.

Board President's XI

The Board President's XI shall be led by one of India's finest test batsmen in the recent past, Gautam Gambhir. As a squad the Board President's XI boasts of India's budding young talent and by no means is a side that can be called a push over. The batting line up looks sturdy with the likes of Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane.

Gambhir is a part of the Indian squad that will play Australia on the rest of the Tour and hence will look to use this as an opportunity to get a close look at the Australian bowling line up and probably play himself into form for the rest of the tour. The likes of Dhawan and Rahane will want to impress the selectors with a good performance and will hope to replicate their domestic success against the Australians. Pujara has been very impressive on the domestic circuit and has earned himself a place in the Indian test squad. He will really be looking at breaking into the playing eleven now and will want to put in everything he has got into the practice match against Australia and will really take this game as his stepping stone to success. Virat Kohli was also scheduled to be a part of this team, however, the ongoing Champions League will deny him the chance of participating in the three day game.

The bowling attack looks like a lively one with a good mix of pace and spin. S Sreesanth and young Abhimanyu Mithun should lead the pace attack, with Jaidev Unadkat and Umesh Yadav battling for a possible third pacers spot. The spin department has been deprived of R.Ashwin, who is still in South Africa for the Champions League T20, and will hence have to be anchored by Piyush Chawla and allrounder Ravindra Jadeja, making them both certain picks. Sreesanth will want to pick up a few wickets and rattle a few Aussie batsmen in his attempt to find his rhythm in an attempt to stake a claim for a spot in the playing eleven come the first test. Yadav and Mithun are two very capable fast bowlers who have a reputation of crossing the 140 kmph mark quite consistently. The duo can be a threat to the Australians and will certainly want to knock over a few Aussie batsmen to send a strong message to the selectors. Unadkat is a young 18 year old who has the ability to swing the ball both way with his left arm seam bowling, though it would be surprising if he gets a look in.

Australia

The Baggy Greens will be up and ready for the game against the Board President's XI and will want to get a feel of the conditions. They are undoubtedly the stronger of the two sides and should be able to dominate the home side, however, the inexperience in the Australian line up will be put to the test.

Skipper Ricky Ponting and vice captain Micheal Clarke will want every member of their team to bat for a while to get a fair idea of how the pitch behaves. The two would also want to get a good score under their belt so as to give themselves some confidence going into the rest of the tour. The batting line up looks pretty good with the likes of Ponting, Clarke, Simon Katich and Phillip Hughes. Clarke and Ponting possess the quality and technique to dominate any bowling attack and they should not have too many problems in overpowering the Board President's XI. Michael Hussey is unlikely to be available for the three day game also due to the Champions League in South Africa and Marcus North should get his first taste of Indian action. Tim Paine will keep wickets and will add a lot of value to the batting line up.

The bowling attack looks to be a little inexperienced but still appears to be lethal. The bowling line up will be spearheaded by Mitchell Johnson with his left arm pace and he will be assisted by Ben Hilfenhaus, Steven Smith and Nathan Hauritz. Smith will look to make use of the Indian conditions for his leg spin and will want to get his rhythm right before the test matches. Hilfenhaus and Johnson will share the new ball and will be keen to run through the opposition's batting line up. Doug Bollinger will also miss this game due to CLT20 commitments.

Likely Playing XIs:

BP XI - Gambhir ( C ), Dhawan, Rahane, Mukund, Pujara, Saha ( wk ), Jadeja, Chawla, Mithun, Sreesanth, Yadav

Australia - Ponting ( C ), Clarke, Hughes, Katich, Watson, North, Smith, Paine ( wk ), Hauritz, Johnson, Hilfenhaus

Prediction: The game should play out as a draw owing to the length of the match that is three days. Australia does have enough power in its arsenal to knock over the opposition batsmen, but would probably want to bat for atleast 100-120 overs themselves to make the most of the practice game, putting a result in doubt.

File Photograph Copyright: BCB