Could Jeff Thomson sort out Irfan Pathan's woes © Cricinfo Ltd

Even as his team-mates walked back to the pavilion to get changed for the game ahead, Irfan Pathan remained on the field, bowling at one stump. After more than two years of being India's first choice new-ball bowler, he now faces the arduous task of regaining the team management's confidence, after a succession of insipid displays with the ball.

Greg Chappell, who has never shied away from expressing his faith in Pathan's allround ability, stood a couple of paces back and watched, and there was another interested onlooker. Jeff Thomson bowled a fair few miles quicker than Pathan in his '70s heyday, and was one half of a duo - a certain DK Lillee was the other - that decimated even West Indies at their peak. Chappell captained that legendary side, and had little hesitation in calling on Thommo's services with his pace bowlers struggling for rhythm and accuracy.

Thomson had words with Munaf Patel and Sreesanth, but concentrated most of his efforts on Pathan, even standing halfway down the pitch to see how the ball was coming out of the hand. The position of the leading arm was analysed, as was the timing of release, and Pathan appeared to be listening intently during a session that lasted close to an hour.

On the tour of the Caribbean, Chappell had drafted in Andy Roberts to take a look at Pathan. And though there was no immediate upswing in his fortunes, he can only benefit from the advice of some of the greatest bowlers to have played the game.

	With his height and accuracy Clark bowls right out of the McGrath manual © Getty Images

Down the years, the stereotypical Australian cricketer has been characterised as a hard-drinking, foul-mouthed bully. Such a perception is grossly unfair to many, and when you come across Stuart Clark, it's easy to see why such labels are half-baked and dangerously inaccurate. Clark is affable and soft-spoken, and in a suit, he would have no difficulty passing for the real-estate agent that he once was.

He also has one of the more intriguing nicknames in the game, Sarfraz, after Pakistan's reverse-swing king of the 1970s, and India will be hoping that he doesn't replicate the mustachioed wonder's performances if they face him on Saturday. In five one-day matches against India, the original had taken eight wickets at 15.50 and caused quite a ruckus with
short-pitched bowling that prompted India to concede a game at Sahiwal in 1978-79.

With umpires clamping down on such tactics, Clark is unlikely to try and emulate that particular performance if called up to play the Indians, but they can certainly expect a searching examination from a man who has moved seamlessly into international cricket after being introduced as a Glenn McGrath clone and replacement. With McGrath now back in the fray, it
remains to be seen how Clark's height and accuracy will be utilised.

He certainly won't be fazed by the occasion, as he showed on Test debut, when he routed South Africa with accurate seam bowling - match figures of 9 for 89 - that was straight out of the McGrath manual. And the confrontation with Sachin Tendulkar, who announced his return in thrilling fashion, is certainly one that he's looking forward to. "He's one of the best batsmen in the world," said Clark, talking to the media from the Traders Hotel where the teams are based. "It will be a challenge to play against him and hopefully I can get him out as well."

Like McGrath, Clark also puts a great deal of thought into his bowling, and he was convinced that the senior man's wealth of experience would come in handy when combating batsmen of the calibre of Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. "Glenn has played them a lot of times," he said. "So it will help. We will discuss them at the team meeting, and talk about different ideas."

The match on Saturday will also be Greg Chappell's first against his home country after he took over as India's coach. Apart from his status as legendary batsman and captain, Chappell knows some of the Australian boys especially well, having given the likes of Shaun Tait and Mark Cosgrove their first caps for South Australia during the final phase of his tenure as coach. He was also in charge of Australia A in 1994-95, a time when Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden and Damien Martyn were bidding to establish themselves as frontline players. Clark, however, preferred to play down the significance of that, saying: "Greg has a job to do. We are ready to
combat anything he can bring along. We're not focused on playing against him but on playing against India."

Having surpassed the likes of Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz in the queue to support McGrath and Brett Lee, Clark, a late developer, is relishing his time with the national side. "It's a competitive team," he said. "There's more media attention and focus on your game once you're in the team. But you're also made welcome any time."

A "true-blue city slicker", to echo his own words, he certainly won't need to worry about getting tangled in wait-a-while bushes at the Kinrara Oval. But in its own way, a chance to front up against a powerful Indian line-up will be just as much of a challenge as a trek through the Queensland bush.

	Bowling tips from the versatile Sachin Tendulkar during the team's practice session © AFP

Imagine a cabbie in Melbourne not knowing how to get to the MCG, or his counterpart in New York staring at you blankly when you ask to go to Yankee Stadium. You can't. But in Kuala Lumpur, where cricket really isn't part of the nation's sporting psyche, blank looks are usually what you get when you get in and ask to be taken to the Kinrara Oval. Located in the suburb of Puchong, it's more than a half-hour drive from the city's commercial hub, and exact directions and a gaze or two at the road map are necessary before you can head off in the right direction.

Along the way, you pass the National Stadium at Bukit Jalil, a magnificent
structure that seats 100,000 which hosted the Commonwealth Games in 1998.
And nearer the airport is another sporting venue that Malaysians are
immensely proud of - the Formula-One circuit at Sepang. As my cabbie tells me
earnestly, cricket doesn't really register here. The main newspapers have
opted for agency coverage of these matches, and the lack of interest was
evident as West Indies and Australia played out the opening game in front
of empty plastic seats and upholstered chairs.

"Soccer is the most popular game," he tells me seriously, before adding
that despite the government's best efforts, the national team languishes
outside the top 100 in the FIFA rankings. When it comes to national
sporting icons, you have to look towards badminton - remember the famous
Sidek brothers? - and squash, where Nicole David now heads the women's
rankings. They also have a handy hockey team, once coached by Australian
legend Terry Walsh.

Legends from a different sport await me as I arrive at the Oval. Sachin
Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid are first into the nets when India arrive for a
practice session, and they're soon followed by legends-in-the-making like
Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virender Sehwag. RP Singh has a fine stint early
on to do his chances of inclusion in the XI no harm at all, and Sreesanth
also bowls some nippy stuff to Dhoni as the players knuckle down.

In an adjacent net, Suresh Raina bats with a stump on a concrete pitch, as
Ian Frazer throws a plastic ball down at just short of a length. More
often than not, Raina is nicely in line, and able to work the ball away
off his hips or square on the onside. And later, as the sun goes down and
the lights shine bright, he's to the fore again as the team goes through
its fielding drills. After weeks of preparation - both in the form of
camps and team-bonding exercises - the team's wait is nearly over. As they
would say in the paddock at Sepang, it's time for the flag to drop, and
the bullshit to stop.

	The Kinrara Academy Oval embraces the one-day razzmatazz © Dileep Premachandran

Flanked by a mosque on one side and the highway on the other, the picturesque Kinrara Oval is a welcome addition to the many venues that dot modern-day cricket's landscape. After the space-age Sheik Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi and the lovely Warner Park in Basseterre, it's Kinrara's turn to bask in the debutante's spotlight. Unlike many of its utterly soulless concrete counterparts, its gives off an impression of space and light, surrounded by trees and with a few mini-pagoda-like constructions that resemble the stands named after the Chappell brothers at the Adelaide Oval.

The Adelaide connection doesn't quite end there either. Les Burdett, the
curator in Adelaide, has been entrusted with preparation of the pitches
here, and apart from the dodgy bounce that dismissed Ricky Ponting, he has
every reason to be pleased with his efforts. With the players seated on
plastic chairs beneath picnic umbrellas, the impression of a laid-back
outing in the country is further reinforced. The only thing that isn't
idyllic is the afternoon heat, and the humidity that makes you imagine
that you're locked into a sauna.

The Oval came into being in 2003, with a team from New Zealand helping out
with the turf, and there are now six strips that can be used. The four
floodlight towers took just four weeks to construct, and the
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have invested the lion's share
of the US$465,000 spent on them. Sadly though, the whole purpose of the
exercise - the lofty aim of spreading cricket's message at non-traditional venues
- appears to have been defeated by the lack of public interest.

The capacity is only 4,000, but less than a few hundred turned out to
watch. The organisers can only hope that India's marquee names pull in the
substantial expatriate population in Kuala Lumpur. The Malaysian Cricket
Association remain hopeful that this will become a frequent stop on the
calendar, but for that to happen, a few more bums on seats would be nice.