Badani to open the innings in second Test: Wright

Indian coach John Wright on Thursday confirmed Hemang Badani will open the innings along with Shiv Sunder Das in the second Test against Zimbabwe starting at Harare tomorrow.

"Badani will open the batting. He wants to..." Wright said, adding the Tamil Nadu left-hander was given a choice to bat either as an opener or at number seven and he opted to open.

"Looking at the wicket and other factors, I think it is a good opportunity for him. It will not be held against him as he is basically a middle order batsman. It is his first opportunity in this position," he said.

Badani, who will make his Test debut tomorrow, has never opened the innings in his first class career but he possesses a sound technique and impressed when he was given the opportunity in a three-day match against the CFX Academy where he scored an attractive 35 before retiring.

Badani gets his first Test in place of his state mate Sadagoppan Ramesh who has not recovered from a back injury he sustained while fielding in the first Test.

Wright said Badani had it in him to make a transition from a middleorder batsman to an opener and expressed confidence that the stylish left-hander would make the most of the opportunity offered to him.

"In my opinion, he has the technique to open the batting. Some people can make the transition and some can't. There is this psychology of the whole position. But Hemang wants to do it and I think he would do a good job. He will put in his 100 per cent," Wright said. "He is a quality player. It is a good opportunity for him.

"A person must want to open the batting. If he is going out in the middle at an unlikely position and is not comfortable, then it is not going to work. But we are in a position where we do not have an extra specialist opener on this tour. If something has to happen, this is the best option."

Wright said fast bowler Ashish Nehra had corrected his run up and would feature in the second Test. "In the two nets we had here, there was absolutely no problem with Nehra. He didn't tread on to the danger line. We are very confident that the problem will not arise again."

Nehra was stopped from bowling in Zimbabwe's second innings in the first Test after he was repeatedly found to be damaging the pitch in his follow-through. There were some doubts over his participation in the second Test but the bowler corrected his run-up and the process was smooth. "It didn't require much work. It was marginal in the first place. He is aware of all sorts of things about his bowling. He is also a very quick learner," Wright said.

The coach was diplomatic in his comment on Nehra being dropped for the triangular series starting on June 23 with West Indies as the third team. "Well, he is not in the squad. But he has been our best bowler. He has been a standout performer and I think everyone is aware of it."

Asked whether the announcement of the one-day squad ahead of the second Test would affect the performance of those who have been dropped, Wright said, "Players have to be professional enough to take the disappointment in their stride and still keep performing."

Captain Sourav Ganguly said India would once again go in with three medium-pacers and a spinner. "The three seamers have done pretty well and the wicket will help them. I don't think the pitch will turn much. Two spinners will be a luxury. There is so much less grass on the wicket this time than the one we played here in 1998. It will be a good wicket to bat on," he said.

Ganguly said he was not perturbed about his own form. "If you look at it, I have failed in only two Test matches in Mumbai and Chennai. Here I got a rough decision. I just have to back myself." He said the team had chalked out a strategy to contain Andy Flower who is having a prolific run against the Indians. "We must bowl in the right channels to get him out. He is due for a failure now."