India vs West Indies – 2nd ODI – Preview

Ground Reality: The Sabina Park at Kingston Jamaica will host its second match of the series, and if the first is anything to go by, the pitch will be ideal for batsmen, and merciless for bowlers. That is a pity, for Sabina Park once had the reputation of being amongst the fastest, bounciest pitches in the world. There are some isolated thunderstorms predicted for the day, and it is to be hoped that they don’t affect the match too much.

The Teams:

India: After the lacklustre World Twenty20 campaign, a win is exactly what the team needed, and Yuvraj gave it to them in style. However, the win has papered over some of the cracks that appear to be deep-rooted. The absence of Sehwag and Tendulkar means the other batsmen have to take more responsibility and apart from Yuvraj and Karthik, not many looked convincing. Gautam Gambhir – who couldn’t put a stroke wrong for the past year and a half – is wondering where his form has gone, and the short ball is troubling Indian batsmen still. The bowling too looked a little ragged with spearhead Zaheer Khan missing, and it was partly due to luck that India were able to defend their target in the first ODI. In summary, though a win first up was satisfying, MS Dhoni and his boys still have a lot of work to do.

West Indies: They would have been disappointed at losing the last match – thinking rightly that they were a touch too profligate while bowling, and a touch too indisciplined in their batting. Had they tightened up either department, victory could well have been theirs. They will be disappointed also because after their recent good form in the shortest format, they would have expected to carry it into the 50 over format too. One of the mysteries in their squad is the non-inclusion of Lendl Simmons who was so impressive in the World Twenty20. He is young, showed potential while batting and can even bowl a bit. However, since the squad announced by the West Indies is only for the first 2 ODIs, he might make an appearance after this match. Their fast-bowlers will have to be on target, to stop India’s batsmen, and look out for the tried and successfully tested short ball barrage.

Soundbytes:
“Once Yuvraj gets in he always gives us a good score with a very good strike rate… he bats at a very crucial position for us.” – MS Dhoni is full of praise for his deputy.

“This is our job and our priority is to go and get things done.” – Chris Gayle is as succinct as ever.

Teams:
West Indies (From): Chris Gayle(c), Runako Morton, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo, Denesh Ramdin(w), Jerome Taylor, David Bernard, Sulieman Benn, Lionel Baker, Ravindranath Rampaul, Narsingh Deonarine

India (From): Dinesh Karthik, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Rudra Pratap Singh, Ashish Nehra, Abhishek Nayar, Subramaniam Badrinath, Praveen Kumar, Pragyan Ojha, Murali Vijay

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