The guy I fancy my chances against is certainly Sourav Ganguly

I come to India with a reputation of being a bowler who likes getting the best batsman in the opposition out. I would admit that while I am happy to get any batsman out, I certainly enjoy bowling to the best. Over the years it has become common knowledge that I target Mike Atherton while playing against England, and of course, Brian Lara while playing the West Indies. During our outings against South Africa I have always targeted Gary Kirsten since he is a key player in their line-up.

I don't mind the other guy knowing that I am targeting him and in fact often let the opposition know whom I'm after. This ploy has worked in the past with players like Lara and Kirsten and I'm sure it will bring me success against top batsmen in the future too.

When it comes to the Indian batting line-up, it is difficult to nail any one batsman as the key player. Of course there is Tendulkar whom I consider the best batsman in the world today, at par with Steve Waugh. I also have tremendous respect for Rahul Dravid, and would consider his skills comparable to those of Tendulkar. However, the guy I fancy my chances against is certainly the captain Sourav Ganguly. He is the one I plan to target and I am confident that I'll be successful against him in the forthcoming series. I have got him out quite a few times in the past, and I'm sure he remembers that. He is a little uncomfortable against short-pitched bowling, and I plan to test him with a lot of that stuff. Another factor in my favour when it comes to Ganguly is the fact that my natural line and length tends to make me successful against left-handers. My record against Lara and Kirsten stands testimony to that. Most importantly, Ganguly is the captain of the side, and if I can get to him, it can only help Australia's cause.

At the start of the tour, I work out a gameplan, and I like to keep it nice and simple on the field. I have a great asset in my accuracy, and I add a little bit of aggression while I'm bowling. As I mentioned, I don't mind a batsman knowing I am targeting him. Often he ends up thinking about me. While this could mean that he will plan a counter-strategy to take me on, more often than not he begins to think too much about my gameplan and ends up getting out. I grew up watching the great West Indian fast bowlers of the late seventies and early eighties. They were a great team and would invariably target the opposition captain. This in turn would invariably upset the entire team, and the ploy would work in the West Indies' favour. I remember watching that, and work my gameplan along the same lines.

Mental toughness is what a batsman requires when he is facing top class bowling. In my mind Steve Waugh is the toughest batsman to bowl to. I rarely get a chance to bowl to him, except in the odd club game and at the nets. Tendulkar too scores pretty well in this department and his mental toughness is one of the primary reasons for his being such a class player for a world to see and a prize wicket for me to claim.

It is interesting to see Tendulkar back out of the warm-up game that will start tomorrow. During our last tour, his double century against us while playing for Mumbai set him up nicely for the rest of the tour. He claims he is injured, but I don't think that is the case. I guess he does not want us - particularly Warne and myself -- to get a look at him before the Tests. It is a little disappointing that he won't be playing this game, and we'll have to wait for the first Test to get a look at him.

While I am confident of doing well in the coming series, I am prepared for a hard time in India. Coming straight from the bouncy pitches in Australia, it will take some getting used to the slow low pitches here. We will have to maintain our line and length and be patient. However, I plan to be aggressive and am ready to bowl many overs if need be. Hopefully, if I bowl as well as I aspire to, we will not need too many overs to bowl the Indian team out.

Gameplan

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