Thaindian News

Canberra, Dec 21 (IANS) India’s left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha said that coach Duncan Fletcher has held a meeting with the team to discuss how to tackle mind games by Australia in the four-match Test series starting with the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

“Fletcher is a very experienced coach. He’s got a great idea about the game. We had a meeting and that (mind games) was one of the first points,” said Ojha at the Manuka Oval.

Fletcher has already warned his players not to get sucked into Australian mind games. The former England coach had a controversial history with the Australian team and is wary of having his preparations disrupted by outside influences.

“One of the first point made in a team meeting was that they would try and come at you. You would have to be mentally strong and be calm and show (your stuff) with bat or ball. They will try and come at you, and you would have to be mentally strong and be calm,” said Ojha.

Ojha insists that the visitors would remain calm to handle tough situations.

“I’m trying to be positive, and especially on this kind of wicket which wasn’t helping much on the first couple of days, I thought I bowled very well. That’s what I felt,” Ojha was quoted as saying by The Age.

Ojha was all praise for Fletcher.

“A couple of times he’s spoken to me about a lot of different things which were not spoken by other coaches. He’s got great idea about the game,” he said.

Ojha said that Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh have advised him to extract bounce from the surface.

“I’m trying to be positive even though the batsmen stepped out to me. I was focusing on my strength. Before I came here, I spoke to Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh and took advices from them. They asked me to mix it; you would get bounce here, there won’t be much spin but I am relying on pace and bounce,” Ojha said.

The Hyderabadi didn’t agree with former Australian greats Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath that bowling is India’s weak link.

“It’s their point of view, the way we guys are bowling and playing, once we start playing it would be shown our bowlers are ready,” he said.

Ojha also said that the team has analysed Australian batsmen and bowlers and has marked out its strengths and weaknesses.

“Even before we came here, we had watched and learnt and found out what’s their weaknesses and strengths are,” he said.