MUMBAI — Batting great Sunil Gavaskar has said England's “final frontier” could prove to be just a small hurdle as they bid for a first Test series win against “vulnerable” India in almost three decades. Gavaskar said the home side was going into the four-Test series against the world's No. 2 team with a “wobbly” batting lineup and a weak-looking pace attack, with spin being the lone encouraging factor. “Amazingly the situation is eerily similar to the tours of England and Australia last year,” Gavaskar wrote in his column in the Mumbai-based Mid-day newspaper, referring to two humiliating 4-0 routs suffered by the Indians. “Both England and Australia were vulnerable and there for the taking, but India messed it up and after the first Test of both the series just did not look as if they would win a day leave alone five days of a Test match. India today are in the same vulnerable position that England and particularly Australia were in 2011.” Gavaskar said the retirement of Rahul Dravid and Venkatsai Laxman, and Sachin Tendulkar's recent poor form, had weakened the famed Indian middle-order. “With the openers too not quite in form, the batting is looking wobbly,” wrote Gavaskar, the first batsman in history to score 10,000 Test runs. “The settled air (in the Indian ranks) that was there at the beginning of 2011 is not there and that is why this is a great chance for England.” In the bowling department, Gavaskar said pace spearhead Zaheer Khan lacked support with the new ball, leaving spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha to shoulder the burden of bowling England out twice. Sri Lanka-NZ T20 abandoned The one-off Twenty20 international between Sri Lanka and New Zealand was abandoned due to rain in Pallekele Tuesday. Sri Lanka, chasing a rain-revised target of 72 runs off 14 overs, was six for no loss after two overs when play was called off. Bresnan, Swann bag 3 wkts each Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann grabbed three wickets each as England fought hard to contain an aggressive India A lineup which notched 369-9 on the opening day Tuesday of a three-day practice game in Mumbai. Bresnan took 3-59 and off-spinner Swann 3-90 to give hope to the visiting side, which is looking for its first Test series win in India in 28 years. Bresnan dismissed Ajinkya Rahane (4), Manoj Tiwary (93) and Ashok Dinda (0) while Swann accounted for Abhinav Mukund (73), Yuvraj Singh (59) and Irfan Pathan (46). Tiwary struck a defiant 150-ball knock, while opener Mukund (16 fours) and Yuvraj (seven fours, four sixes) played some fine strokes after India A elected to bat. — Agencies
