GEARING UP:Suresh Raina will be hoping that his young side, which won the T20 match on Saturday, can come up with another good performance in the first ODI on Monday.
Port of Spain (Trinidad): The mood in the Indian camp is upbeat following the victory in the one-off Twenty20 international on Saturday.
But then, the West Indies team for the first ODI here on Monday represents a stiffer challenge for Suresh Raina and his men.
Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollord are in the squad. Although the explosive Chris Gayle is still not a part of the side for the first two one-dayers, this West Indian team has a lot more firepower.
The weather could be a factor in the contest. It rained hard in these parts after the conclusion of Saturday's game and both sides might have the Duckworth and Lewis factor in their minds.
As the World Cup winner, the pressure will be on the Indians to come up trumps in the five-match series — with or without stars.
After all, a side that triumphs in the premier ODI competition is expected to possess bench strength. This Indian team has a fight in its hands though.
The signs from the Twenty20 game were mixed for India. The top-order collapse was worrying.
India requires a solid opening partnership but finds itself with a lone specialist opener in Shikhar Dhawan and the make-shift Parthiv Patel as the men at the top of the order.
Dhawan looked out of his depths against the moving ball and has a few technical issues to sort out. If the classy Murali Vijay had been more consistent in the ODIs, plenty of India's problems under these circumstances would have been solved.
Given his technical and mental attributes, Subramanium Badrinath should be able to carry his form into the ODIs. His equanimity in pressure situations is heartening.
Rohit Shama showed a few glimpses of his stroke-making ability. In the 50-overs-a-side contest, there will be opportunities for him to consolidate.
The experienced Harbhajan Singh leads the spin pack. Off-spinner R. Ashwin, whose methods are different from Harbhajan, has a strong case to be included in the eleven. He will be fighting it out with leg-spinner Amit Mishra for a slot.
There should be a fair amount of assistance for the spinners from the track here.
It would be interesting to see if paceman Ishant Sharma receives a look-in. The lanky Ishant bowled to a good rhythm in the Indian Premier League and the team-management would do well to give Ishant an opportunity when his mind and body are in harmony.
The surface for the Twenty20 match here offered lateral movement to the pacemen early on — the overcast conditions were also a factor — but the pitch was on the slower side.
So much so that the West Indian captain Darren Sammy openly expressed his disappointment with the nature of the track.
This said, given the 9 a.m. start, the pacemen will be in the hunt in the first 60 minutes of the game. There is bound to be moisture on the pitch.
For the West Indies, skipper Sammy's telling line, cut and changes in pace have worked well.
Sarwan will add solidity to batting while the all-round ability of Dwayne Bravo will lend greater versatility to the side. And Pollard is a game-changer.
The host will have to pace its innings in a manner that does not put the later batsmen under too much stress.
Much focus will be on leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo. He possesses the flight and the deception. Oh Yes! He can spin the ball.
The teams (from): India: S. Raina (captain), S. Dhawan, P. Patel, V. Kohli, S. Badrinath, R. Sharma, Y. Pathan, Harbhajan, R. Ashwin, M. Patel, P. Kumar, I. Sharma, A. Mishra, M. Tiwary, V. Kumar, W. Saha.
West Indies: D. Sammy (captain), L. Simmons, K. Edwards, R. Sarwan, Darren Bravo, M. Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, K. Pollard, C. Baugh, D. Bishoo, R. Rampaul, A. Russel, A. Martin.
Match starts at 6.30 p.m. (IST).
0 comments:
Post a Comment