ODI - India Vs West Indies
Chennai, on January 26, Indian Captain Rahul Dravid said that Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Zaheer Khan would not play in the third one day match at Chepauk. He clearly expressed about the team composition when he addressed the customary media conference. The captain’s emphasis was who would rest in Chennai rather than who would actually play.
Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambir will be the opening batsmen and only two of the three spinners (Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble and Ramesh Powar) will be in the eleven. This was the menu from the team management for the Chennai One-Day International. The decision to rest their four key players has a lot to do with the cushion that they have now though Dravid underlined his desire to win this match too.
The spinners will have a lot of work to do on a wicket that looks good for close to 600 runs for the match. By bringing back Yuvaraj Singh and Suresh Raina, India have their spinning options along with Sachin Tendulkar. So, India will take the field on a high, daring to do whatever they feel like doing if they win the toss: bat first or bowl first.
Brain Lara has a problem with his knee and was reportedly declared fit but sources close to his sponsers were quite clear that he would not take any risks here. Lara said that he was not hundred percent fit. Chris Gayle will also have a good role to play in West Indies’ fortunes as a all-rounder. The West Indies middle-order is weak as ever.
