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it is better to face India now’

Sports Reporter
Every scries in charge of Bangladesh comes as a challenge for Dav Whalmore and every match holds equal importance. However, the immediate assignment against India is a far stiffer prospect than the last one versus New Zealand or the series to follow against Zimbabwe.
From Bangladesh’s point ofview, the two Tests and three one-day internationals against Sourav Ganguly’s men should be taken as a chance to gain valuable experience for the much weaker Zimbabwe, who play two Bls and five GDIs in Bangladesh in January. But Zimbabwe arc not on Whatmore’s mind at the moment.
Talking to reporters after a five-hour net practice at the Banga-bandhu National Stadium (BNS) the 50-ycar-old Australian, who recently returned from a two-week vacation in Sri Lanka, said it was a good time to take on the formidable Indians who are struggling for form.
"They are not playing well at the moment. Sachin (Tendulkar) is one not getting the runs as well. Although their batting is not clicking, I still think they have a very strong batting line. But it is better to
face them now," Whatmore said.
Whatmore was still feeling bothered by the 'ligers’ inability to push New Zealand in the recent series.
"In the Tbst matches, we were pretty upset about our inability to be competitive and take the matches into five days. We will try to be as competitive as we can (against India).
"Because we play so close to New Zealand, it’s still fresh in the mind and I hope we can show marked improvementin testingthc opposition."
Having been taken on a spin by Daniel Vettori, the Bangladeshi batsmen are prime candidates for getting exposed to India’s fearsome spin duo of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh but Whatmore feels that things do not always go as anticipated.
"They are probably much better spinners than Vettori but it docs not necessarily follow that pattern. Kumble has taken 431 wickets and Harbhajan has a striking rate of 6-8 wickets per Test The pair is dangerous and make India a good team overall. We have hard work ahead.
"We have to play spin properly Concentrating on nudging and pushing the ball for runs and only being defensive is not the key. We want to leam from the past series and it was on an exceptionally turning wicket in Chittagong, with no
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grass on top, where Vettori won the bouts. This time, we will try to prepare nice, hard and flat good cricket wickets."
Whatmore, who is not getting all the players in the preliminary squad to train at the same time because of their Premier Cricket League commitments, said he was happy that some of the boys were having match practice.
" The senior members of the team are doing well. Most of the national cricketers had a poor first round, but we have a few performances in the second round of matches. Rajin (Saleh) and (Mohammad) Ashraful have scored and we want to see them play long innings'. Although they are 50-over matches, playing in the middle will help," felt Whatmore.
His new helping hand Australian trainer Stewart Karppinen delighted those present at the BNS with some mighty blows when he decided to go for a knockabout in the nets once the day’s session had ended.
The former Western Australia pace bowler, who had to end his
playing career due to a back injury last year, showed that he had not lost his touch and some onlookers even inquired whether he fancied appearing in the Premier League under the foreign player's quota.
"I have no cricketing ambitions left and I don’t want anything to interrupt my current job. Hie playing background helps me understand the needs of the players better. The (national) players have a strong base of fitness range at the moment and their levels are close. They are prepared to work hard and I have benefitted from the work they have done under Justin Cordy," said Karppinen.
"The key is to keep the players fresh mentally and physically before the game," said the 31-year-old who unlike his predecessors, has adopted a less strenuous fitness regime.
"Different games need different levels of fitness. It is not the same for a footballer, a rugby player or a cricketer. Even spin bowlers, pace bowlers and wicketkeepers have different needs," he said.