Krejza still in the running for Bangalore Test: Ponting

Australian finger spinner Jason Krejza may still play in the first Test against India here from tomorrow, if skipper Ricky Pontings view on the issue merits attention.

Bangalore, Oct.8 : Australian finger spinner Jason Krejza may still play in the first Test against India here from tomorrow, if skipper Ricky Ponting's view on the issue merits attention.

Despite suffering a mauling in last week's tour match, Ponting said he was impressed with Krejza's attitude and was sure he'd "do a good job" if selected for his maiden Test at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Ponting believes the Indian batsman won't savage Krejza the way back-up batsmen Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Wasim Jaffer and Yuvraj Singh did for the Indian Board President's XI.

The Tasmanian finished with match figures of 0-199 off 31 overs.

"The way the Indians treated Krejza in that game won't happen in the Test - the more senior guys have probably got a fair bit more pressure on them than the tour game," Ponting said.

"We've still got a lot of batting, (Brad) Haddin at No. 7, (Mitchell) Johnson and (Brett) Lee at Nos.8 and 9.

"That's the decision we've got to make."

Krejza or Cameron White remains the only selection poser for the tourists after they named Wednesday a XII that omitted Phil Jaques, Doug Bollinger and Peter Siddle.

White's presence alongside fellow all-rounder Shane Watson would give Australia a deep batting line-up but the Victorian has no bona fides as spinner of Test quality.

He arrived in India only three days ago and last summer claimed just six wickets at 47 in 84 first-class overs.

Gaining sharp turn from the Bangalore practice wickets, Krejza looked more threatening, if a little less accurate, than White during training.

"Jason mentally - one positive coming from me (in the tour match) was when the Indians declared their second innings, I could hear all this yelling and screaming coming from the background and it was Jason on the boundary, really disappointed at not getting another bowl," Ponting said.

"For me that was a good sign. You could understand that something like that would have affected him in some way, but if you had a look at him at training Tuesday he bowled probably the best he's bowled on the tour. Straight back on the horse, gave it his best shot," said Ponting.

ANI