The host broadcasters of the India-Australia series, Nimbus, got off to a horrific start at the Feroz Shah Kotla, though due to no fault of their own. At the start of the first day’s play, the staff were in for a shock on seeing the control room flooded, wrecking everything kept on the floor, the Hindustan Times and Deccan Herald have reported. A water pipe above the room had burst the previous night and the company had to frantically make arrangements to source replacements for the equipment from Mumbai and Singapore. A senior production official from Nimbus then alerted the BCCI to ensure better facilities, especially with more than a few million television viewers at stake.

Manoj Prabhakar, the former India medium-pace bowler, believes Australia's fast bowlers need to adjust their wrist positions to produce the sort of reverse swing that is necessary to be effective on Indian wickets.

Prabhakar, to whom swing came naturally, felt the Australian pace bowlers were naturally inclined towards achieving bounce and seam as opposed to swing. "If you don't know how to seam the ball you cannot survive in Australia, if you do not know how to swing the ball you cannot survive on the subcontinent," he said. "Their wrist position is not good enough to get late reverse swing," he said. They can seam the ball, they can get reverse swing, but not late swing. Unless you swing it late, reverse swing is not useful."

Prabhakar had served as Delhi's bowling coach last year and worked with a raw Ishant Sharma. "Initially when I met him he was not swinging the ball, he only had a leg cutter because he was hitting the deck hard and holding the ball very tight," Prabhakar said."Now he is doing wonders, because he is holding the ball really loose with the fingers and he is snapping the wrist. That is the main reason why the Indians are getting more swing than the Australians."

Ishant leads the wicket-taking tally in the Test series with 11 in two games, so Prabhakar has a point.

The pollution level on the opening day of the Delhi Test, October 29, the day after Diwali is celebrated in north India, is expected to be the heaviest in the country's capital.

Traditionally, the early half of the day after Diwali is generally as bad as the festival night itself in terms of pollution and visibility. This year, after a night of grand fireworks, visibility is supposed to be at a new low.

"We are not expecting any major trouble if the weather remains warm and sunny. But if the temperature drops and there's stillness around (little or no breeze), there could be some problems as far as visibility is concerned," JM Mauskar, chairman of the Central Pollution Control Board, told the Hindustan Times.

It is also believed that exposure to increased pollution levels could cause respiratory trouble and irritation to the eyes.

The dust may not settle on this one so easily.

While Doug Bollinger was being mistaken for Brett Lee at the Taj Mahal, the real McCoy was bowling in solitude at the Feroz Shah Kotla. With just four wickets in two matches at an average of 59.25, and an on-field dispute with Ricky Ponting in Mohali, Lee's maiden Test tour of India hasn't gone too well. Having been told by Ponting to up his pace, Lee went to the venue for the third Test and bowled for a couple hours. No chatting, no smiling for the cameras, no mistaken identities.

Assisting Lee was Australia's fitness adviser, Stuart Karppinen, who has come up with a programme comprising 11 varied sessions. "Because of his personal circumstances, he hasn't done the same volume of work and we want to try to build that up," said Karppinen. "He's at 95 per cent and bowling in the mid-140s (kph) but we want him to be able to crank that up. He's lost speed and condition. We want to mimic the movements that happen when he bowls. We're trying to promote speed."

The sightseeing of a couple of Australian players at the Taj Mahal on Thursday turned them into superstars when local news outlets were told Ricky Ponting and Brett Lee would be there. So when it was only Doug Bollinger and Jason Krejza, two of the squad’s back-up bowlers, who stepped out of the bus the locals could not be convinced that Bollinger was not Lee.

After an hour of viewing the Mughal masterpiece, “Lee” was asked to sign a picture that a photographer had printed off to get a lasting memento. Everyone seemed satisfied that Krejza wasn’t Ponting, but the duo received a special escort around the building, which upset some Italian tourists.

“They’re cricketers, and it’s India,” one of the team’s management offered in explanation. Bollinger and Krejza were the only Australia players here who hadn’t seen the monument until their rock star experience.

Australia's players have been given some time off during their extended break between Tests but they still have plenty to work on ahead of Delhi. Finding out how to use reverse swing like Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma, for one.

"There was reverse swing in the tenth over of the game. That has such an impact," Michael Clarke said of Australia's loss in Mohali. "India are bowling across the seam in the first four or five overs to try and rough the ball up as much as possible to make it reverse swing early.

"I didn't see that on my first tour of India. Why are they reverse swinging it in the tenth over and we're reverse swinging it in the 80th over?"

That might be a question for Australia's bowling coach Troy Cooley. Last time the Australians were demolished by a reverse-swinging attack was during the 2005 Ashes when Cooley was England's bowling coach.

It’s not just Australia’s cricketers who are having a tough time of it in Mohali, where some travelling fans have also found themselves in a spot of bother. PTI has reported that a group of Australian spectators was hauled away by police for wearing t-shirts with offensive slogans.

"The slogans written were 'Beer with Mahatma, Bets with Gupta, Dancing with Indira and still getting runs',” a police officer told PTI. "We took strong objection to it and summoned them ... they apologised before us, saying their intention was not to hurt anyone's sentiments. We let them off with a warning and sent them to their hotel to get their dresses changed.”

One of the group told the Times of India they had not intended to cause any trouble. "All was harmless fun,” the spectator said. “We are on a tour to enjoy India, its culture, its people and cricket. So if we have offended anybody we apologise, but it was not intentional.”

Bananas, banana shakes, eggs and hot milk with turmeric form part of Sachin Tendulkar’s breakfast, according to the chef at the hotel at which the teams are staying in Mohali. The ‘power breakfast’ for the players is a high-calorie mean with plenty of fibre and energy drinks. "We give them mix of continental which contains chicken or fish, baked beans, breakfast cereals, high calories like multi-grain bread, muesli, choice of cheese spreads, fresh variety of cut fruits and juices," Ramit Kohli told Indian Express.

There are exceptions, though, for on Wednesday the Indians had oil-free crispy paranthas and the Australians ate dosas. Ricky Ponting, however, preferred poached eggs.

There isn’t much danger of a reprise of monkey chants with the absence of Andrew Symonds, but that doesn’t stop a couple of Australian supporters from having some good-natured fun at the expense of Harbhajan Singh, the other central character in the controversy.

"What did Harbhajan's five fingers say to the face ......Slap", read the message on the t-shirts that Paul Weston and Mark Edmonds wore to the ground on the second day of the Bangalore Test. It was cheeky, but without malice. “We decided to bring our own humour by coming up with a line every day", Edmonds said. They got the text written out at a local mall in Bangalore. “We wanted to print a photograph of Harbhajan on the back, but couldn't find it,” Weston said. They are from Melbourne and on their final leg of a month-long tour of India, which has taken them, among other places, to Kashmir.

Australia’s fast bowlers have been buoyed by their first glimpse of the pitch in Bangalore. Far from being the sort of surface where they would bend their backs for little reward, the pitch was described as “hard and shiny”.

It is the work of Phil Stoyanoff, the New Zealand curator who looks after the Napier Test ground and was summoned to India to prepare the Bangalore pitch. "It reminds me of the WACA," Stoyanoff told the Herald Sun. "It's been rolled and rolled in the past week and is really firm. It has a lovely sound to it."

Although there are a few cracks already, Stoyanoff does not believe they will break up. "I have no worries about the cracks,” he said.

	Shane Warne: "Even I found it tough in India, and I'd like to think I was one of the better spinners around" © Getty Images

White appears to be favourite to make his debut in Bangalore, with the prospect of bowling at a line-up including Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly.

"Even I found it tough in India, and I'd like to think I was one of the better spinners around," Warne said. "It took us [Australia] a number of years to learn how to play out there. On the last trip I took 14 wickets in three matches and missed the last game on a bunsen when Michael Clarke took 6 for 9. I may have got one or two then.

"You can bowl to the Indians, but if you don't bowl well you will get smashed everywhere. But it's a little different now, there's a few of those guys coming to the end of their careers and not at their most confident. However, they are still the best players of spin."

At some point over the next few weeks Ricky Ponting will look around his field and wish he could call on Warne. It has been asked before whether a shock comeback would ever be a possibility, but again Warne said it was highly unlikely.

"At the moment I’m happily retired.” he said. “They don’t need me. I don’t think the call will come. If it does I’ll weigh it up, but I’m very happy. I haven’t got time to play Test cricket."

The sight of Sreesanth toiling alone at one corner of the Chinnaswamy Stadium as the Australian squad trained 50 yards away seemed somewhat unkind. As he continued with his rehab under the watchful eyes of the NCA trainer, Sreesanth did his best not to get distracted by the action around him. On another day the media would have surrounded him for quips and gossip. On Tuesday even the ever-hungry TV reporters decided to snub him.

Not that the fast bowler was in a mood to face the camera. When a few of us approached him he wasn't willing to open up. Signing autographs silently he acknowledged the greetings. Was he missing the action? "Four months, man. I haven't bowled for four months," he replied. His tone made his disappointment amply clear. But he wasn't giving up. As he walked away he repeated the word "four", suggesting he would be back for the final Test in Nagpur.

	Simon Katich works on his turn © Getty Images

Spin is such a massive weakness for Australia and with Michael Clarke suffering from a stomach problem, they are looking at all options. Even Ricky Ponting spent time delivering offspinners at training in Bangalore, just in case he’s needed.

Jason Krejza has been under heavy scrutiny during the first two weeks of the tour, particularly from Yuvraj Singh in Hyderabad, and there was more extreme focus on him during Australia’s first practice at the ground. Andrew Hilditch, a full-time analyst in his roles as a lawyer and Australia’s chairman of selectors, watched the slow-bowling net for most of the session as Krejza, the offspinner, and Cameron White, the legspinner, tried to convince him they were ready for a debut. Simon Katich, whose left-arm wrist spin could be handy, had a go too.

Rain over the past few days is making Bangalore feel a bit like Manchester, minus the cold. Forty-one millimetres fell on Monday night and the ground squelched with each step on Tuesday morning, although the locals were pleased with the way the surface had held up. However, more evening showers and storms are predicted for Tuesday and Wednesday. The conditions forced the Australian fast men to operate off short runs in the nets, but Brett Lee and Peter Siddle were able to stretch out on a practice wicket in the centre square. Bowlers rarely worry about their front foot in these situations, but Lee will need to bring his delivery stride back by almost a metre to avoid over-stepping when the match starts on Thursday.

	Rahul Dravid affords a smile as 'the wall' is unveiled © AFP

The Indians reassembled in Bangalore on Monday and were due to practise in the afternoon. Before the session, however, there was a small function at the Chinnaswamy Stadium honouring Rahul Dravid for scoring more than 10,000 runs in both Tests and ODIs. Sachin Tendulkar unveiled a ‘wall’ made out of 10,000 bricks bearing the words class, concentration and commitment. “I am also called the wall,” Dravid had said on a BBC radio show in March. “It doesn’t really bother me. Sometime later, people may write the wall is cracking or the wall is falling.” The wall also has an electronic run-counter which will tick over with every run Dravid scores. The Indians will hope that it ticks furiously in the next month.

	The Australian players will have their own individually marked water bottles during the Indian tour © AFP

From stocking crates of bottled water and energy drinks to popping stomach-lining tablets before their meals, Australian cricketers are doing all they can to beat the heat in India as they prepare to take on Anil Kumble’s men in a gruelling Test series. John Peirik in the Sunday Telegraph offers the visitors a survival guide to the perils of India.

Dealing with the stifling conditions is the top priority. Litres of Gatorade have been ordered along with crates of bottled water will also be used. Players will also have their own individually marked water bottles. Drinks and towels are left in Eskies at fine leg and third man for the bowlers.

Stuart Karppinen, who has the tough job of ensuring the Australian players are at peak physical fitness, has chalked out individual specialist programmes at training. Hotel gyms are also going to be a big help, with opening batsman Matthew Hayden being a self-confessed gym junkie.

Shane Watson pops a stomach-lining tablet before every meal to prevent sickness. Unfortunately, it hasn't stopped him from picking up a chest virus. While bottled water is a must, the Australians have also stocked up on various dried fruits, muesli and energy bars.

	The Australians take a close look at the footage after the day's play in the dressing room © AFP

Ricky Ponting was an angry man as the third's day play winded to a halt in Hyderabad. The drama happened after the final ball. Michael Clarke had deflected Wasim Jaffer's drive to the stumps where Yuvraj Singh just about put his bat down. The appeal was referred to the third umpire and the players, perhaps not realising how close it was, kept walking towards the pavilion, with one eye on the light.

No signal came. So they all waited. Yuvraj smiled nervously. The TV kept showing replay after replay. It looked pretty close. No light came on though. Some technical glitch and the umpire Amiesh Sahiba got the news on his walkie-talkie. Not out was the verdict from upstairs. Yuvraj smiled and walked away but Ponting marched to the umpire to have an animated chat.

Later, match referee Manu Nayyar revealed Tim Nielsen, Australia's coach, and Steve Bernard, the manager, came to meet him and expressed their unhappiness over the verdict.

On the Australian captain's chat with the umpire, Nayyar said: "Ponting must have heard from his support staff and enquired with the umpire, who conveyed to him what the third umpire had told him."

	For the last five days, the Indian team has worked hard under the supervision of Gary Kirsten © AFP

A pre-series camp is like a laboratory, especially if it goes on for as long as five days, a place where the players experiment, observe, and try to make sure they are not taken by surprise when they go out to play the Tests. During their five-day camp in Bangalore, India tried their best to prepare themselves for Australia. There were nets, fielding drills, open-wicket practice, and other such routine stuff, and also a few innovative methods used in the practice.

The most interesting of them was Gary Kirsten’s way of getting the batsmen ready for short-pitched bowling. Kirsten got harder-than-normal tennis balls, and served them, like in tennis, for the batsmen to face. He managed to get the balls to bounce into the ribs of the batsmen. He could also go for the slice serves, which resulted in prodigious outswingers.

The other two innovations helped the bowlers. In the open-wicket practice, apart from the normal stumps, they were given a fifth stump so that they could aim at just-outside-the-off-stump line. So that they could become more certain of the corridor of uncertainty.

The other marker they got was for the bouncers. It basically was a pole placed just behind the stumps, with a red circle on its top. Roughly speaking, the marker started head-high for a batsman of average height. Anything higher than the marker would be a wide in normal match conditions. Another pole was placed just behind the off stump, with the marker starting at a height where the stump ended. This one served as a guide for the proverbial top of off stump.

The Indian team has worked hard over the last five days in the camp, and it should be interesting to see what kind of results they draw in the series.

Sourav Ganguly's first attempts at getting some practice ahead of the Test series against Australia didn’t go too well, the Times of India reported. Ganguly, who hasn't played competitive cricket since August, has joined India A in Chennai for the Test against New Zealand A. However, there were no quality bowlers when he turned up for his first nets session at the MA Chidambaram Stadium - the other India A players had the day off. He gave up batting after half an hour and turned his attention to slip catching with Dav Whatmore, though that apparently didn't last long because the assistant throwing the balls to Whatmore wasn't very accurate.

Ganguly left without saying much. “Please don't push me. I'm just not in the mood to talk,” he told reporters but Whatmore said he looked “keen and hungry”.