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Arshad Ayub manager of Indian cricket team for Austrailia tour

India will play four Tests and a triangular One-Day International series
Hyderabad: Hyderabad Cricket Association president Arshad Ayub has been appointed manager of the Indian cricket team for the tour of Australia that begins on Monday.
India will play four Tests and a triangular One-Day International series with England as the third team, followed by the ODI World Cup that runs from February 14 to March 29 next year.
Arshad will be manager for the Test leg that ends on January 7 in Sydney. The former off-spinner has not played in Australia during his international career comprising 12 Tests and 32 ODIs between 1987 and 1990, but will be at the helm of team affairs. That is quite a task. The 56-year-old is up to it though.
“A tour of Australia is always tough and challenging. But our boys have been thorough of late which is good for team spirit. If they believe in themselves, the results will show. Team India is a good mix of players for the future and should do well,” Arshad told this newspaper on Tuesday.
The tour will also provide ample opportunities for the players to get used to the conditions ahead of the World Cup scheduled to be held Down Under. “This stint will be the ideal lead-up to the big tournament,” Arshad said.
Talk about India’s tour to Australia brings the bad blood between the teams to mind. The famous ‘Monkeygate’ row in the 2007-08 series that strained relations between the countries was a blot on the cricketing calendar.
Incidentally, another Hyderabadi former HCA secretary and BCCI’s current manager of cricket operations M. V. Sridhar who was the Indian team’s media manager on that tour, had played a key role in Harbhajan Singh being acquitted of a racism charge by Judge John Hansen, appointed by the ICC.
However, much water has flowed down the bridge since. “That was sometime ago. India and Australia have played two or three series after that. I think things have smoothed out after that and there is bonhomie among players from both sides,” Arshad said.
That, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s current cricket diplomacy in Australia (of which another Hyderabadi, VVS Laxman, is part) should stand in good stead when it comes to off-field relations among players, administrators as well as supporters of the two cricket-crazy countries.
( Source : dc )
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