Valuable tips from legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar and batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar helped India's new opener Shiv Sundar Das tighten up his batting in the recently concluded Test series against the mighty Australians. "Gavaskar advised me to take the leg-stump guard and I followed the suggestion in the third Test at Chennai making 84 in the first innings", Das told PTI here.

"Till the Kolkata Test, I used to take a middle-stump guard, but Gavaskar pointed out that it left my leg stump exposed," he said. The little master, Das said, advised him that as an opener, if he could play out the first one hour of the match, it would become easier in the subsequent hours. "It helped me immensely in the series decider." Das met Gavaskar at a function at Chennai before the start of the third Test.

Das had also been seeking advice from Tendulkar about the strategy he should follow against the Australians. "Tendulkar provided me psychological support and advised me to play my natural game without bothering about the bowling", he said. Describing Glenn Mcgrath and Jason Gillespie as two of the best bowlers in the world today, the short-statured opener said Tendulkar often helped him prepare psychologically as to how to face their initial spells. Das along with lanky medium pacer Debasish Mohanty have been included in the list of 26 probables for the forthcoming tour of Zimbabwe.

Das, the Orissa Ranji team skipper, said he learnt a lot during the series against the Aussies and was looking forward to the tour of Zimbabwe. "Many thought the series against Australia would be a litmus test for me. But I feel I have passed that test", he said adding, "the way I faced the Australian attack, both pace and spin, gave me a lot of satisfaction". Das said he batted with a positive approach throughout the series. "I had prepared by watching some of the Australians on the video and also watched their series against West Indies".

Regarding his back-foot strokes and negotiation of deliveries pitched outside the off-stump, which earned him kudos from cricket watchers, Das said he had benefitted immensely by practising on matting wickets at the club, under-16 and under-19 level in Bhubaneswar which had no turf wicket. "You get more bounce on such surface and that experience is paying dividends now", he said.

Besides, his one and a half month special training at the Australian academy, where he faced bowling machines, helped him hone his skills. Asked if he felt disappointed after getting out on 84 at Chennai, Das said "a century against the Australians would have definitely given me great satisfaction". On his routine during his stay here, Das said besides regular practice, he was watching his own cassettes of the just concluded Test series and trying to iron out the mistakes. The team physio Andrew Leipus had also given a schedule for physical training to the players, he said.

© PTI