Patience to be Australia's 'mantra' against Indian batsmen

Hyderabad, Oct 2 (UNI) The Australian pace attack, led by Brett Lee, has plotted a strategy in which it made a pact to be patient against the star-studded Indian batting when they begin their quest to defend the Border-Gavaskar Trophy from October 9.

Yesterday, Lee and Stuart Clark asserted that patience would be the key for their bowling attack as they have never played a test in India.

''Patience is definitely going to be a word that we will be using through the whole Test series,'' Lee said here yesterday.

''I just think the key to bowling over here, going on what you read and what you hear from past players, is to be nice and patient,'' he conceded.

The hot and humid conditions and fanatical spectators can test touring teams, especially when batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag are at the crease.

Unorthodox Sehwag can explode any time, while Tendulkar alternates between defence and attack.

''We are up against world class batsmen, we are up against wickets that aren't going to be conducive to fast bowling, and the weather is going to be really hot.

''We have to try as a team to block all that stuff out and just really focus on the way we know, to be nice and patient,'' Lee said.

The Australians would also look to make use of the sluggish running between the wickets for which the Indians are well known and the speedster Stuart Clark believes that lack of polish and fitness will hurt the Indians.

''We have to work long and hard for four or five days. If we can do that, then we will be a chance at the end,'' Clark said.

Clark further added that the conditions would suit the pacemen if they stick to the basics and maintain their discipline.

''I think the wickets become harder to bat on. They don't bounce, there is no pace in them and they don't carry. LBW and bowled become a really useful mode of dismissal, rather than just caught.

''In Australia, a lot of the guys get caught behind the wicket.

Bowled and LBWs are a big way of getting out over here,'' Clarke pointed out.

The Australians will reprise the successful tactics of the 2004 series that saw Tendulkar and Sehwag having to counter fieldsmen in the deep, even early in their innings.

A lot would depend on the Australian pacemen as the visitors do not have a quality spinner in their ranks but even the likes of Shane Warne have looked completely out of sorts against the Indian batsmen, who are known to be good against the spin.

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