'You must be in the game right till the end ' - Dravid

Both Ricky Ponting and Glenn McGrath lavished praise on Sachin Tendulkar, but were confident that Australia would prevail when they meet India on Saturday in the third game of the DLF Cup. McGrath is representing Australia for the first time since the VB Series last January, and relished the opportunity to pit himself against both Tendulkar and Brian Lara in the same tournament.

"My whole career, I have enjoyed bowling to guys who are the best in the world," he said. "Sachin and Lara are two of those guys. I didn't get a chance to bowl at Lara the other night, now I'll see how I go against Sachin. I am looking forward to it. Sachin is a class player, I have always enjoyed bowling to him in the park. The way I started the other night was a perfect length to a right-hander. So, we have a right-hander who has got a 140 under his belt. He is due to fail in this game!"

Ponting too was awestruck by the manner in which Tendulkar had announced his return to the fray, saying: "I have always said that Sachin is the best player I have played against and seen. He is absolutely world-class. Having him at the top of the order makes the team look much more formidable. He gets in there early, he has technique to play the new-ball, and he can be as damaging as anyone in the middle and end overs. He makes for a pretty good package when he is at his best."

That said, he insisted that the game would not be about individuals. "India has always been the team that we respect, and they have lots of match-winners in their team," said Ponting. "On their day, they are as good as anybody going around. We have got one win under our belt and that should help. As for India, this is a short series, so they will, I am sure, look at tomorrow as a game that they must win."

Rahul Dravid suggested that a positive mindset would be India's biggest ally. "We need to be at the top of the game to beat the Aussies," he said. "They have maintained their status as the best side in the world, and we have played some good one-day cricket in the last year. It should make for a good contest.

"Like everyone saw, the West Indies were in control for three-fourths of the game, but then the Aussies fought back and won convincingly in the end. You must be in the game right till the end against Australia, you can't relax at any stage. We will look to be aggressive and positive."

India's preparations weren't helped, however, by rain that resulted in their practice session at the Turf Club being called off, after only Virender Sehwag and Mahendra Singh Dhoni had got an opportunity to knock around in the nets. "We have had just about enough of this bad weather," said a visibly irked Dravid. "I think we have got our quota of rain for a couple of years in the last month or so! It is a bit frustrating, but it is something we can't control. Yesterday was shaping up into a good game, and we were beginning to have good training session here today. The facilities were great and we had excellent practice pitches, but only two players got to bat."

Dravid accepted that India's bowling had been well below par against West Indies, who were 141 for 2 from just 20 overs when the rain came down. "We didn't bowl as well as we would have liked, and there is a lesson to learn there," he said. "We have worked out the areas that, if we bowl in, will bring us success. We have got plans in place, now it's a question of executing them."

Australia also struggled with the ball when Shivnarine Chanderpaul was smashing it all over the place, but McGrath was coy when asked if he would become something of a mentor for the younger bowlers. "I don't know if I am good at it," he said truthfully. "But I get along well with the young quicks and they sort of keep me on my toes. I haven't spent a great deal of time with them just chatting to them, so I am working their game out and seeing actually how much they know about their game."

Despite the fact that he's now one of the game's senior statesmen, McGrath hinted that the snarl, that has been just as much part of his game as his accuracy, wouldn't go into premature retirement. "Being a fast bowler, one needs to be aggressive," he said. "Even so, there is a line I have made that I don't cross too often. But Ricky wouldn't want me skipping around after bowling half-volleys and smiling when I get hit for four."

Both camps played down the significance of a Greg Chappell-coached India taking on Australia for the first time. "We don't look at it that way," said Dravid. "It doesn't make a difference that Greg is an Aussie and we are playing Australia tomorrow. He is our coach, and Australia is just another team. I don't know if the fact that Greg has coached people like Ponting in the past will make that much of a difference."

Ponting, who was part of the Australia A squad coached by Chappell in 1994-95, agreed. "You might be right there," he said with a laugh, when asked to recall those long-ago days when he was trying to make his mark. "I have only heard good things about Greg as a coach. He has been with us at the Academy at different times, he knows a lot of our game reasonably well. So he will have a fair deal of knowledge to pass on to the Indian team about us.

"When he [Chappell] was coach of South Australia, Tim Neilsen was with him there as the assistant coach. Everything he has said about Greg is positive, Tim said Greg is the best batting coach he has worked with. He would have brought a fair bit to the Indian team, and a fair bit of knowledge about us too."

How that knowledge helps the Indians on Saturday remains to be seen.