Crafty, accurate Hilfenhaus will have work cut out in Mohali Test

CHANDIGARH - Australian fast bowler Ben Hilfenhaus can curl the ball away from the bat all day, and this craft and accuracy of his will be vital to the Australian bowling attack in the first Test against India at Mohali, which begins on Friday.

“I think it’s still swinging a little bit in the fifth over but that’s about as much as we’ve dragged it out to at this stage. So, it’s a little bit different and it’s going to be challenging for us. We change a few things and experiment a little and see what works for some bowlers and what doesn’t and you’ve got different plans to what you do back in Australia,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Hilfenhaus, as saying.

“So we’ve done a fair bit of homework on these blokes and we’re just hopeful we have the right ones and it all comes down to execution,” he added.

Now fully fit, Hilfenhaus is ready for a tour that will require him to keep the ball tight around off stump for energy-sapping spells in heat and humidity, although he admits that subcontinental weather will cause his captain Ricky Ponting to watch him closely.

“Length of spell is something Ricky’s good at managing to be honest, he just goes with his instinct and if he thinks a bloke can’t really bowl for long periods of time, he won’t,” said Hilfenhaus.

Universally lauded by teammates and his coach Troy Cooley as an exceptionally crafty pace man, Hilfenhaus’s shy and retiring off-field manner gives little indication of the plans being concocted within. (ANI)