Questions for both sides in opener

Match facts

Sunday, October 13, 2013
Start time 1330 local (0800 GMT)

Big Picture

If you trace a line through the venues for this ODI series, it starts from western India and runs across the northern, eastern and central parts of the country before culminating in the shape of a question mark in the south. As India and Australia traverse that line for the next three-and-a-half weeks, they will doubtless ask questions of each other. The foremost for Australia will be - can this squad, sorely lacking experience compared to previous sides, come close to matching their limited-overs deeds in India?

The last ODI Australia played in India was the quarter-final of the 2011 World Cup. The churn Australian cricket has gone through since then is reflected in the fact that only three members of that XI are part of the current touring party. Previous Australia ODI visits to India have been successful due to two big factors; powerful, dominating batsmen who have taken toll of India's relatively weaker attacks on benign pitches, and bowlers of real pace who have squeezed enough out of those surfaces to prevent the home batsmen from running amok.

Names such as Brett Lee, and later, Doug Bollinger, come to mind, hustling India batsmen with extra speed. Mitchell Johnson is the only such bowler in the present squad, although Nathan Coulter-Nile can produce bursts as well. However, Australia are well served on the power-batting front, Aaron Finch, in Rajkot, providing enough evidence of that.

India's No 1 ODI ranking is on the line, although it will require a 1-6 hammering, something that would leave Australia captain George Bailey "very surprised" if it happens. For MS Dhoni, as always, the question is not how to make runs, but how to prevent them from being made by the opposition. The new ODI rule restricting deep fielders to a maximum of four has only added to his problems. "I don't know where to bring in that one fielder inside in the last ten overs when the batsmen are intent going for the bowlers," Dhoni said. "That's one area where we have to work on. We have to see how to use that channel to put pressure on the opposition."

Form guide (Most recent games first)

Australia WLWWL
India WWWWW

In the spotlight

Rohit Sharma has reinvented himself as an ODI opener following successful outings in the Champions Trophy, in the West Indies and in Zimbabwe. The promotion had come at home against England earlier this year. But his strike-rate has taken a beating at the top of the order. The needs in overseas conditions were different, but in Indian conditions, he will be required to provide explosive starts.

The last time Australia toured India for a bilateral ODI series, in 2009, Shane Watson was their highest wicket-taker and third-highest run-getter, after Michael Hussey and Ricky Ponting. Those two are no longer around, meaning extra responsibility for Watson. More pertinently, he had an agonizing time during the Test tour earlier this year leading to much upheaval within the team and will have to play a role completely different from the divisive one he did then.

Team news

India have the same squad that played the solitary T20 and should stick to the same XI, unless Vinay Kumar, who hurt his left wrist in Rajkot, fails to recover.

India (probable) 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Vinay Kumar/Mohammed Shami/Jaydev Unadkat, 11 Ishant Sharma

Callum Ferguson and Phillip Hughes are the additions to the Australia squad from the T20 one. Nic Maddinson impressed on debut in Rajkot, but he isn't part of the ODI group, which means one of Ferguson and Hughes should come in.

Australia (probable) 1 Aaron Finch, 2 Phillip Hughes, 3 Shane Watson, 4 George Bailey, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Brad Haddin (wk), 7 Moises Henriques, 8 Nathan Coulter-Nile/James Faulkner, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Clint McKay, 11 Xavier Doherty

Pitch and conditions

The Maharashtra Cricket Association's new stadium on the outskirts of Pune will make its ODI debut. Its pitch has played notoriously and stubbornly slow and low during IPL seasons. The IPL comes at the end of the season, but even during the early-season Ranji Trophy matches, the venue hasn't seen much life. Last November, Maharashtra declared on 764 for 6. Uttar Pradesh replied with 669 for 7, and their coach Venkatesh Prasad was moved into terming the surface "pathetic", albeit for a four-day match.

The start time for all games this series has been advanced by an hour to 1.30pm to try and counter the autumn's prospect of dewy nights. Before that, the match will have to weather the 50% rain that is forecast for the day, although not much of it is expected in the evening.

Stats and trivia

• India have won their last eight ODIs
• The MCA Stadium in Pune will become India's 42nd ODI venue. The Nehru Stadium, the old international venue in the city, hosted the last of its eight matches in November 2005.

Quotes

"I don't think there's any advantage. It's a nice statistic though but there's no advantage to be gained from this. I don't worry about it too much. I am not really thinking about maintaining the streak."
George Bailey on Australia's ODI record in India

"Australia have good batting depth and can bat up to No 9. That's their strength and that is why in the T20, they were not too concerned about losing wickets and adopted an aggressive approach."
MS Dhoni

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Parnell's six snuffs out Knights

Warriors 242 for 8 (Ingram 79) beat Knights 231 (van Biljon 67, Parnell 6-51) by 11 runs
Scorecard

An extraordinary six-wicket haul from Wayne Parnell gave Warriors a winning start to the Momentum One-day Cup with an 11-run win over Knights at Kimberley.

Parnell ran through the middle order for his best List A haul and took the wickets of Pite van Biljon and Quinton Friend, who both threatened to rally Knights to their target of 243. But they were bowled out with more than four overs remaining.

Parnell began with a wicket in his third over but it was his second spell that did the damage with five wickets in six overs. His side needed wickets because they were leaking runs at a healthy rate and van Biljon's 65-ball fifty led the chase. But when he was seventh out to Parnell, Knights were running out of room. Friend revitalised the chase with 35 in 30 balls but Parnell again removed the danger and Andrew Birch claimed the final wicket.

Having been put in to bat, Colin Ingram played the strongest hand in Warriors' solid total. He struck seven fours and a six and added 75 for the third wicket with Ryan Bailey. Useful cameos from Christiaan Jonker and Simon Harmer boosted their total, which Parnell ensured was healthy enough.

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Gazi's batting vindicates shift in policy

Bangladesh have often used a specialist batsman at No 8, but Gazi's growth as an assured strokemaker could help them save a key position in the future

With his maiden Test century, Sohag Gazi has reiterated his value as a batsman. If he can continue making such contributions in future, Bangladesh can finally relinquish their preferred policy - one they have stuck to for 17 Tests since 2009 - of using a specialist batsman at No 8.

It is the second Test in a row when Bangladesh have chosen not to play a batsman at No 8, a position traditionally meant for bowling allrounders and wicketkeepers. The change was effective in the previous Test in Zimbabwe, but at home, the assurance of that extra batsman is still felt within the dressing-room. It takes time to get used to a subtle change in mentality but Gazi's unbeaten 101 should be a step forward.

Gazi's performance also brings into focus the importance of having handy tail-enders. Bangladesh's batting coach Corey Richards has said that there is ample opportunity for bowlers like Gazi to work on their batting.

"It really isn't too difficult for bowlers to practice their batting at any stage of the year particularly in our structure," Richards said. "We encourage the bowlers to spend time in the nets. I am always available to help as is Shane [Jurgensen] or it could be as simple as pairing up with a "buddy" for practice.

"As we saw today and in the New Zealand innings, lower-order players who can bat can completely change the course of a game. It is crucial that they practice as often as possible."

The belief of Gazi the batsman grew as he moved past the half-century mark after starting the day on 28, although, he did appear nervous in the nineties when he tried to slog four times.

"Sometimes it [the slog] comes naturally," Gazi said. "I was trying my best to stay calm for as long as possible in that situation. Throughout the innings, I tried to bat like I would in the National Cricket League [the first-class competition]. I would like to continue like this."

Richards too was impressed with the innings, particularly because of the potential deficit that Bangladesh had to avoid. The home side were 89 runs behind New Zealand's 469 at the start of the fourth day, but the 105-run ninth-wicket stand gave Bangladesh a 32-run lead.

They have never taken a lead batting second against New Zealand, so it was as much about mental edge as about runs. "It was an extremely good innings," Richards said. "To score the runs under pressure and be involved in an important partnership with Robiul really turned the game around for us. We could have been 70 runs behind New Zealand, so to have a 32-run lead was a fantastic effort."

In a career of only seven Tests, Gazi has already done things to get people who work with him excited. He was Bangladesh's leading wicket-taker in Test cricket last season with 26 wickets and he has been useful in close finishes with his batting. But the Test century, in the opening Test of the 2013-14 home season, would help raise his confidence as a batsman.

Off late however, his bowling has been off-colour despite taking 10 wickets at an average of 17.50 in six Dhaka Premier League matches. The five wickets he took at 70.00 in Bangladesh A's tour of England in August was the cause for real concern. Also, he was among six cricketers whose fitness levels were not up to the mark before they left for the UK.

Richards has said that he must work hard on all aspects of his game to have longevity to his international career. "Sohag Gazi has all the attributes to be a fabulous long-term international cricketer for Bangladesh, provided that he continues to stay focused and work hard on all aspects of his cricket.

"As he showed today, he can turn the course of a game with his batting, and he is obviously capable of doing the same with the ball." Richards said. "I'm sure that he will get an enormous amount of confidence from today. I hope that this is the start of him showing what a talented allrounder he is for Bangladesh."

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Ponting reveals Clarke doubts

Ricky Ponting has revealed the doubts he harboured about Michael Clarke before his ascension to the Australian captaincy, saying his deputy did not contribute as much as desired and that for some time senior players "wondered if he'd lost a little of his sense of team".

In an extract from his forthcoming autobiography At The Close Of Play, Ponting frames his relationship with Clarke against his own decision to give up the captaincy following Australia's defeat to India in the 2011 World Cup quarter-final in Ahmedabad. He is frank in describing how Clarke took a back seat to proceedings as vice-captain, despite being asked numerous times to take on more responsibility by Ponting and the former coach Tim Nielsen.

"It wasn't that he was disruptive or treacherous, and publicly he said all the right things, but he had never been one to get too involved in planning sessions or debriefs at the end of a day's play, or to volunteer to take on any of the captain's workload," Ponting wrote in the extract published by News Ltd. "More than once, Tim Nielsen and I had encouraged him to take on more of a leadership role within the group, but when Pup was down on form or if he had a problem away from cricket, he'd go into his shell."

At the time of Australia's 2006-07 Ashes victory over England, Ponting said Clarke had emerged from a run of poor form to grow in maturity and presence, and had begun looking like a potential captaincy successor. But over the following two years Ponting described Clarke as moving "in a different world to the rest of us".

"It never worried me if a bloke didn't want a drink in the dressing room, but I did wonder about blokes who didn't see the value in sticking around for a chat and a laugh and a post-mortem on the day's play," Ponting wrote. "This was the time when we could revel in our success, pick up the blokes who were struggling, and acknowledge the guys who were at the peak of their powers.

"Pup hardly bought into this tradition for a couple of years and the team noticed. At times, he reminded me of a team-mate from earlier in my career, who'd be chirpy and bubbly if he was going well, but appear a bit grim if things weren't working for him. The best team-mates are the ones who can keep their moods in check for the sake of the group."

Tension over Clarke's contribution to the team bubbled over following the January 2009 Test win over South Africa at the SCG, during an infamous confrontation with Simon Katich. Ponting states that Katich's anger about Clarke's desire to get away from the dressing room after a victory summed up the feelings of more than one member of the team at the time.

"We wondered if he'd lost a little of his sense of team," Ponting wrote. "It was our first significant Test win in exactly a year, almost certainly Matt Hayden's last Test, yet Pup wanted to get away. I didn't actually witness what went on, but as I understand it he asked if we could do the anthem sooner rather than later, Mike Hussey said he'd have to wait, the point was pushed, Kato suggested Pup be patient, and when Pup continued to complain Kato grabbed him and again told him to be patient.

"Okay, it might have been a bit spicier than that, but that was the gist of it. Michael left immediately after the confrontation, while we just shrugged our shoulders and said, 'That's Pup'."

Following the incident, Clarke's standing within the team was gradually repaired, helped by a staunch performance during the 2009 Ashes series in England and his success in New Zealand in 2010 having flown home to put an end to his engagement with Lara Bingle. Ponting wrote that the pair grew closer again over this time.

"I wouldn't say we were tight after that, but we were better. His official reign as Australian captain started on a high, with ODI wins in Bangladesh and ODI and Test wins in Sri Lanka, and he quickly took his batting to a new level, to the point that it seemed he could almost score big hundreds at will.

"He was training hard when we were together and obviously doing a lot of extracurricular work on his fitness and his game as well, which was inspirational. He now seemed happy to take on the planning, media and administrative duties that he'd veered away from when he was vice-captain and the mood in the Aussie dressing room was positive. Perhaps I'd been wrong to be so concerned for so long."

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South Africa's icy plans to beat UAE heat

Perhaps the only thing you can't buy in a Dubai shopping mall is reality. Stroll through any one of the monstrous mazes and you can do anything from test driving a sports car to skiing down a slope of man-made ice. For the latter, you can even buy a fur coat if needs be.

"Can't see these being big sellers in UAE," Graeme Smith posted on Twitter, after spotting some of the fluffy, warm items through a shop window. Precisely.

But there is one kind of jacket that could become a must-have in these parts: the ice-vest. You're unlikely to see it on any of the catwalks but if you're tuned in to the cricket, look for it beyond the boundary. That's where some of the South Africa players will be taking a minute or two to put it on and cool down while on the field against Pakistan.

The garment, as explained by spin-bowling consultant Claude Henderson, is simply "a jacket with ice inside it" but it is a bit more complicated than that. South Africa have been trialling a range of different articles, including neck pieces, discs and bandanas, some of which contain a freezable gel that assists in bringing body temperature down.

It's not an entirely revolutionary concept - few things in fashion are - and fitness trainer Greg King said he has seen them worn by teams such as Australia and India in the past, but it is something South Africa are trying to perfect usage of as they head into what's expected to be a hot series.

The average high for October in Abu Dhabi sits at 35 degrees Celsius. It has been mostly hotter for the time South Africa have been here. Sharjah went up to 40 degrees and although cricketers play in these conditions on occasion, they need to be watched carefully when they do.

"When the environmental temperature is hotter than the body or close to body heat, it becomes very difficult for your body to lose heat," King said. "The temperature of skin is around 32 degrees so when it is close to that outside, the body will be generating heat and its mechanism for dispensing with it is made less efficient.

"If you get too hot, your body will tell you to slow down. You won't be able to put in as much effort. And then you will not get guys bowling at 100%, they'll be at 80%."

South Africa want their players, particularly their fast bowlers, to be able to deliver at their maximum in this series. If they need to be kept on ice to do that, that's what King is going to do. "When they are on the field, they can't wear an ice-vest because it's cumbersome and there are regulations about what you can and can't put on so we've to experiment with when they come off the field and during drinks breaks," King said. "It's just giving the guys a minute or two of comfort."

Dale Steyn was spotted donning the jacket on a few occasions during the practice match and a handful of other players had the neck-wear on. Robin Peterson though, had neither on and had not even heard of them until asked. "I don't think I'll need it, I'm ok in the heat," Peterson said.

Like Peterson, most members of the South Africa squad have started to acclimatise to the heat. Smith said they are "feeling more settled" now than they were on arrival, when it was like "walking into a steam bath." Having played in places King described as similarly hot and humid - Chennai, Kochi and even Durban - turning out in the UAE is not a task that should burn them out.

Still, they want to find different ways of managing the players' response to extreme conditions and the latest wardrobe is one of them. Those who don't have an interest in haute couture will be pleased to know new clothes are not the only way the emperors - according to the Test rankings at least - plan to overcome heat.

King also plans to resort to good, old-fashioned umbrellas on the side of the field where the players can get a spot of shade when needed. The officials have yet to rubber-stamp his request to position them at various places along the boundary but King said he will "try and push for four umbrellas around the ground." He has revealed they are "more effective than any of the garments we have." Now that's a reality check indeed.

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Mominul's boundaries, and Mushfiqur's landmark

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Champions Trophy failure casts shadow for Cook

By any standards, Alastair Cook has enjoyed a fine first year as captain of the England Test and ODI teams. In a role which is largely defined by Ashes success, England's 3-0 victory over Australia stands out, though the Test series victory in India might well, in the long-term, be rated as the greater achievement. Either way, to have lost only one Test in 14 and won seven more is a fine record.

Yet it is a reflection of Cook's high standards and expectations that, when asked to reflect on his first year in charge, it is a failure that stands out.

Failing to win the Champions Trophy final still hurts. England, with the game in their grasp, surrendered their chance to win a first global ODI trophy. With 16 balls to go and six wickets in hand, they required only 20 to win. In the end, though, India won by five runs.

It is the first thing Cook mentions when reflecting on his year in charge.

"We should have won that game," Cook sighs. "We should have won that game of cricket chasing 130.

"As a team we are always going to be disappointed by the Champions Trophy final. It took quite a long time to get over it. It was the same for me personally. The game was in our grasp. That was a tough day and I think it took us a long time to get over.

"They were unique circumstances. To have a Champions Trophy and go straight into an Ashes within 10 days was tough. Losing knocked us down a bit more than we thought. We already started the Ashes a little bit jaded."

Cook's comments underline the high-priority England invested in the tournament. While the focus of the media and most spectators was upon the Ashes, England realised that the event presented an opportunity to win a global ODI trophy and reiterated the impression that, after years when Test cricket was the priority for England, showpiece, global limited-overs events are now held in equally high esteem. The 2015 World Cup is the next such target.

"It was certainly a good tournament," Cook said. "To have it in two weeks, with every game having meaning was sensational. Past World Cups haven't felt like that. But we had an opportunity to win the Champions Trophy and the Ashes in a short space of time and we didn't quite take it."

Cook also admitted that his relative struggles with the bat during the Ashes series - he averaged 27.70 - did "not sit easy with him."

"It's frustrating because I feel my game is in good order," he said. "You don't look at any career and see a constant upward curve. That's what being a batsmen is. But it doesn't sit easy with me to say that and accept it to be fine.

"As a captain you want to lead from the front and score runs; that is your primary job. Particularly when you play your first Ashes series as captain.

"But until you've gone through it you don't really know what to expect. It is more intense, it is more heightened.

"I don't think that has affected my batting. It's more of a bone of frustration. I still felt I contributed with three fifties and if you change fifties into hundreds it changes the complexion. I'm looking forward to putting that right."

When pushed, however, Cook did admit that England's success in India was a considerable source of pride. Cook had assumed control of a divided team reeling from the Kevin Pietersen episode and facing one of its long-established fears: spinning wickets in Asia. Yet, despite considerable odds, Cook somehow untied the dressing room and led his side from one-down after the first Test to an admirable victory.

"When you achieve something as special as that, it does reignite the side and squad," Cook said. "That will be the series that, when I stop playing cricket and look back, I will think was special.

"The next time we go to India, too, we will realise what we achieved. If you look where we were at the end of the second or third day of that first Test, I think it was an even greater achievement.

"I can't fault the lads - there is always going to be a bit or turmoil when a new captain comes in that - that is natural. I'd been captain of the ODI side, but when you lose someone like Andrew Strauss with the credit he's got and the respect he's got, there's always going to be time to get used to it. But the lads responded to me and the way we've gone on, we can't fault that. We need to draw on that in the next three months."

Alastair Cook was supporting the Chance to Shine Annual Awards. Chance to Shine is keeping cricket alive in schools and just £15 pays for a year's coaching for one child. Donate at chancetoshine.org

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Mominul starts delivering on promise

Hailing from Bangladesh' premier sports school, the BKSP, Mominul's maiden century proves why he was earmarked for the future

On a few occasions every decade, since the inception of BKSP - the country's largest sports institute - in 1986, Bangladesh cricket gets in the grip of "who's coming out of BKSP" fever. It started with Al Shahriar and Naimur Rahman in the mid-1990s and continued with Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan in the early 2000s. Towards the middle and end of the last decade, Nasir Hossain, Anamul Haque and Mominul Haque were the most talked about.

In between, there have been several misses too. Players, such as Al Shahriar, pace bowler Sajal Chowdhury, and more recently Sohrawardi Shuvo, were highly-rated, but they either had technical flaws or they bowed out at a young age due to the weight of expectations.

With his maiden century against New Zealand, Mominul has begun to fulfill his early billing. It was a two-paced innings; he started off rapidly on the second day, continuing in the same vein as he went past the century-mark, but as the bowling side caught up with him, he allowed Shakib and Mushfiqur - fellow BKSP alumni - to take over the scoring.

"They probably didn't know much about my batting because on the second day, I got a lot of bad balls," Mominul said. "There was a bit of pressure on me today, particularly to score the hundred. I got a little careful as a result, but then I crossed that landmark, and the one after that.

"It was a little tough to bat today, because they bowled in the right areas. I am a disappointed at not getting a double-hundred. I don't know if I would get a second chance."

Mominul's innings would please his BKSP coaches and the age-group scouts, who have spent their lifetimes finding such talents, parading them in tournaments and then spreading the word until one of the Dhaka clubs offer them a contract.

Mohammad Salahuddin, Bangladesh's former fielding coach, used to be the coach at BKSP when Mominul was admitted to the school in the seventh grade in 2004. The mentor kept a keen eye on his progress, and made sure that his guidance wasn't lost when he left BKSP the following year.

Though now he is the coach of a Malaysian university, Salahuddin felt elated after a year of near misses. The two had a talk on the second night when Salahuddin asked Mominul to open up his stance slightly so that he can have full-view of the left-arm seamers or anyone coming around the wicket.

	Normally he tapers off or tries to bat too quickly. It was quite good today, I thought he understood where he needed to stop or go after the bowling Former BKSP coach Mohammad Salahuddin

"I was a little concerned that he wasn't getting a big score in international cricket," Salahuddin said. "Today I saw parts of his innings. I was really pleased with how he kept the rhythm of his innings until his hundred. Normally he tapers off or tries to bat too quickly. It was quite good today, I thought he understood where he needed to stop or go after the bowling.

"He is a good guy, very disciplined and a hardworking student. You didn't have to force him to do things. The old guys at the BKSP indoor would tell you that he was there at the nets almost every day. He prepares well, like he did in this off-season when he worked on his leg-side shots."

When Mominul first came into attention with a 150 against West Indies A, then BCB president AHM Mustafa Kamal, a rather excitable administrator, wanted him in the Test squad right away during the home series against Pakistan, two years ago.

It didn't materialise, but Mominul was in selectors' eyes from then on. In his formative years after he had moved from hometown Cox's Bazar to BKSP, he quickly became one of those cricketers that the Dhaka leagues awaited after getting very positive reports from coaches and scouts of the age-groups.

Mominul followed the same route that got him to every representative side. But he hardly played more than five matches in the first-class arena. He was always going to make it to the senior side at the back of a bulk of runs, and that came last season. In eight matches, Mominul scored 443 with a top score of 120 out of the two centuries.

It was enough for the selectors to keep him in the fringes. The opening came when Shakib Al Hasan was injured ahead of the West Indies ODIs at home. A steady 25 in his fifth ODI, also the series decider, gave a glimpse of how he could hold his own.

Mominul made further strides with two fifties during the Tests in Sri Lanka, but in Zimbabwe, after not being able to convert his starts in the second Test, and looking uncomfortable at No. 3 in the ODIs, he was left out from the final ODI and told to work on his leg-side shots.

However, the off-season work, the pre-season tour of England with Bangladesh A and some runs in the Dhaka Premier League have helped him. New Zealand were taken aback by his strokes early on, but even after they restricted him on the third morning and afternoon, Mominul didn't look out of place.

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Smith confident despite brief preparation

Graeme Smith does not feel underprepared ahead of next week's Test series against Pakistan despite being out of action since May and batting for only 30 minutes in the warm-up fixture against Pakistan A.

Smith was out lbw for 2 in the first innings of the match and did not make an appearance in the second because of workload management. South Africa chose to juggle their line-up to expose the middle and lower order to the new ball and spinners.

It leaves Smith with only two short stints of match time - he played a warm-up game for Cobras last week, in which he also scored 2, and the Sharjah warm-up - ahead of South Africa's first Test series in seven months.

Smith is confident the lack of game time will not affect the way he plays when it counts the most. "I've been following the programmes in place to make sure I can get out on the field on Monday," he said. "That is the ultimate goal, to lead in a Test match."

Those plans include careful management of his return from injury. Smith was on a personalised training schedule over the winter and made incremental progress as the series approached. On departure from South Africa he said he had "upped his cricket skills" in the last two weeks so it was about "getting mentally ready" in the UAE but he wanted to "maximise the preparation available to me".

One interpretation of that would have been to get another innings under his belt but Smith explained overload was not the answer: "Not batting today was just a management process. I've had major surgery five months ago so it's about following protocols and listening to the medical team."

He admitted he would have preferred to bat longer in his first innings but did not read too much into being the only member of the top five who did not score a half-century. "I would have liked more time out there," he said. "But it's not the first time it has happened to me and it won't be the last. That's cricket. You take the good with the bad."

Later that afternoon, Smith held a long net session with coach Russell Domingo and he is certain to have a couple more before the Test. He has been working on "quite specific" aspects of his game which include, "maybe 10 to 15 minutes with the new ball and then some spin bowling" but said it's "no different" to the way he has trained in the past. "Having toured the subcontinent and the UAE before, I understand what needs to be done," he said.

This is not the first lengthy injury layoff Smith has had. His ankle has caused him problems in the past, as recently as before last year's England series when he did not play for a while before the Tests but returned with a century in his 100th game. "Last year, I didn't spend a huge amount of time in the middle before the series but I felt good about my game," he said. "You don't get it perfect like that all the time but the motivation is there."

Smith is not the only member of the side making a comeback. Jacques Kallis has not played any cricket since the IPL, after opting out of the Champions Trophy squad, and JP Duminy's ruptured Achilles has kept him out of whites since the England tour of July-August 2012. Claude Henderson, South Africa's spin consultant, said Kallis had two net sessions before declaring himself ready for the Tests and Smith knows his premier allrounder is good to go. "Jakes has the experience - he knows what it takes to come back from a layoff."

Duminy's form - in the one-day format, the unofficial Test against India A and this match - suggests he is also ready to get on with the job. "JP has played a fair amount of cricket since his injury," Smith said. "Watching him bat in the nets, it looked like he had had a whole season out there. I am very happy with where everybody is."

Although a quick glance through the scorecard of the warm-up match will illustrate that it was nothing more than a glorified middle practice, Smith said the team were able get used to the conditions, particularly the temperature. "Apart from the match, we had two pretty tough training sessions and a lot of other work in the heat," he said. "There has been a fair amount of acclimatising. We are all feeling a little more settled under the heat than we were earlier."

The squad will travel to Abu Dhabi tomorrow and Smith hopes they will settle in quickly and get ready to do what he knows they can. "This team has the ability mentally to step it up going into a big series." History has shown Smith does too, whether he has had game time or not.

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A tale of two innings

The numbers of BJ Watling and Mominul Haque's innings offer an insight into the mindset as both batsmen reacted quite differently when faced with a similar kind of pressure

The striking contrast between BJ Watling's second Test hundred and Mominul Haque's highest Test score was evident in their boundary count. Watling struck six fours and two sixes in his four-hour stay at the wicket. Mominul already has 13 fours in a 71-ball 77, which is rather uncharacteristic of his natural game.

The numbers said much about their mindset at the crease, which played a key role, as they gathered knowledge of the conditions and reacted to the situation of the match.

Mominul arrived with the score at 8 for 2 in the fourth over, with Bangladesh still 461 runs behind. He also had to contend with the possibility that a failure here might mean his exit from the XI with Naeem Islam waiting in the wings.

Watling only had tailenders for company since the seventh ball of the day's play. He had every option to attack, since he had little to lose from that point, and since he would have been forgiven for trying to up the tempo and grab what he could as their innings was starting to slide downwards.

Instead Watling chose to grind like the top-order batsmen on the first day, making sure the bowlers came to him rather than him chasing after them. A sound strategy on a slow wicket, considering the majority of the bowler's successes would revolve around the batsman making a mistake.

It came when Watling was on four as he flung at a Rubel Hossain delivery way outside off-stump and Nasir Hossain taking the catch at gully. But it was a no-ball, as revealed by the later TV replay, and Watling tightened his game.

"I am obviously feeling rather lucky today," Watling said. "It happened to one of them [the Bangladesh batsmen] too. It's great to get that opportunity to keep going and make it count and try to make a decent contribution.

"I just tried to switch back on and start again really, learnt from the mistake that I made. It was a pretty rash shot so it was good to get a chance to redeem myself and try to score as many runs as possible."

The 127-run stand for the tenth wicket with Trent Boult was more down to Watling's doing as he farmed the strike cleverly in the first hour and let Boult free in the second half of their stay at the crease.

For Watling, who was playing only his third Test innings in the sub-continent, it was only a matter of getting used to the pitch. The one in Chittagong is a typical Bangladeshi wicket which offers very little bounce to play any horizontal bat shots or any pace to work the ball.

"I wanted to be patient and wait for them to bowl some bad balls," he said. "I think if you bat a lot of time on that wicket you can get used to it and you can score runs when the bowler starts to tire."

For Mominul, this was the sort of innings that would answer some of the questions on his ability to play Test cricket. He has scored two fifties in four matches but he found things difficult in the only Test he played in Zimbabwe, and in the ODI series where they experimented with him at No. 3 for a while. He had also averaged just over 28 on Bangaldesh A's tour of England, which was disastrous for most of the tourists.

However, Mominul benefited from some ill-directed bowling. He didn't have to go out of his way to strike three consecutive fours off Bruce Martin's first over. It was the same story against Doug Bracewell in the next, and as he moved to a half-century off just 36 balls.

Mominul's innings transferred the pressure back on New Zealand as he and Marshall Ayub added 95 runs for the unbroken third wicket to take Bangladesh through till end of day's play.

The overnight batsmen's first task is to see out the first hour, whatever the quality of bowling is, especially considering Bangladesh have more often than not lost wickets early after a promising overnight score. Mominul and Ayub should take a leaf out of Watling's book, for he displayed patience when he could have easily taken the safer route of batting for himself.

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