Bilakhia eyes opener’s slot

Hyderabad
Oct. 8: As the D-day draws closer for the Deccan Chargers who will play Somerset CCC in their first match of the Champions League on Saturday, all eyes will be on the batsman who will open with skipper Adam Gilchrist.
While there is no dearth of options for the Bulls, Gilly has already listed out his options in the form of Azhar Bilakhia, Tirumalsetti Suman and VVS Laxman. Interestingly, Gilly opened with Abhinav Kumar in the practice game against Otago Volts and opened with Laxman in the practice tie against Hyderabad XI on Thursday. Both Abhinav and Laxman were aggressive in their approach, scoring runs at a blistering pace.
Others in the fray — Suman and Azhar have all opened for their respective sides. Azhar appeared excited at the prospect of opening the batting. “To open with Gilly would be fantastic. You get to learn about how to pace the innings and shift gears when necessary,” Azhar said. If one watches him at the nets, one can spot an uncanny similarity in his stance with the batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar. When asked about it, Azhar appeared surprised and said, “Well, like many others I have admired his batting but never thought that my stance was similar to his. I take that as a compliment.” On his preparations for the Champions League, Azhar said, “After IPL-2 in South Africa, we were given a fitness programme to be followed plus I have been playing local games to remain in a good shape.”
On the mantra that the Bulls follow, Azhar said, “Our coach Darren Lehmann always says — one step at a time. Concentrate and channelise all your energies on the current game in hand and you will be able to perform well. We never get ahead of ourselves and that was crucial in our successful campaign in the IPL.”
While Gilly keeps his cards close to the chest, it will be interesting to see who opens with him on Saturday even as the Bulls get ready to fight out for the top honours in the Champions League.
Source::DC