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Ganguly doubts Lee, Gillespie fitness
Sourav Ganguly has questioned the fitness of Australia's injury-prone fast bowlers Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie for Friday's series-deciding Test.
Skipper Sourav Ganguly has questioned the fitness of Australia's injury-prone fast bowlers Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie for Friday's series-deciding fourth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
With Lee and Gillespie likely to play, Ganguly said tearaway Lee ran the risk of breaking down in his fourth straight match after returning from ankle and stomach injuries.
He claimed Gillespie, having just recovered from a groin strain, might not be as fit as the Australians think.
Plenty is at stake with series locked at 1-1 after Australia's recovery to capture the third Melbourne Test by nine wickets last Tuesday.
"It's not easy coming back from injury - we saw what happened with Zaheer (Khan) in Melbourne," said Ganguly, who lost paceman Zaheer during the Melbourne match to a hamstring strain previously thought to have healed.
"Although he went through everything in the nets, his fitness work - it's different when you play a match. There's tension and that can create a lot of problems for the muscles in the body so we'll have to wait and see how he copes and it could be a blessing for us," Ganguly said on Thursday.
"Lee is a quick bowler, not just somebody that comes in and bowls line and length and it will have taken a toll on his body and now he has to play another Test match with two days break.
"That's going to be four games in a row for a fast bowler, which is not easy."
Asked further about the twin threat of Lee and Gillespie, Ganguly said: "We won in Adelaide with Gillespie playing and I thought we handled Lee well in Melbourne.
"We still know they're quality bowlers but we feel we have the batting to cope with it."
Australia were Thursday still to finalise their team but Waugh said Lee and Gillespie, who have yet to play together during the series, were likely to be selected with Brad Williams or more likely Nathan Bracken as the third speedster.
"If I were the Indian batsmen they would be the two blokes I wouldn't want to be facing," Waugh said on Thursday.
"When we look at our selection, I think we've got to sit down and work out which bowlers the Indian batsmen don't like, or wouldn't want to see in combination.
"Lee and Gillespie would certainly be top of their list."
Waugh denied there was a risk in bringing back Gillespie or persevering with Lee, who bowled 49 overs in the Boxing Day Test less than a week after delivering 51 overs for New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield.
"He (Gillespie) has only been out of action a couple of weeks, he's done a lot of net bowling and he knows his body very well," said Waugh.
"It was only a slight injury. It's not as if he's coming back from a major tear.
"If he says he's right, that's good enough for me. He's been fit probably for the last four or five days. He just missed out on the last Test match, it was more just being careful and cautious.
"He's ready to play. I certainly want him in the side."
