We can tackle Harbhajan, says Hooper

June 16, 2001

Harbhajan Singh may have tormented the Australians and continues to trouble the Zimbabweans but West Indies captain Carl Hooper remains unfazed and feels his team is competent enough to tackle the 'turbonator'.

"We have seen bits and pieces of Harbhajan and we are confident against him," said Hooper, who is leading West Indies in the triangular one-day series involving India and Zimbabwe starting in Harare on June 23.

The 15-member West Indies team arrived in Harare on Thursday. They will take on Zimbabwe in the first match of the series next Saturday.

"We have toured India before and played their spinners.Narendra Hirwani who took 16 wickets in his first Test but he struggled to do so well abroad," said Hooper.

"Harbhajan too will realise the conditions abroad can be different. He is just starting out and he will learn," said Hooper, himself one of the finest players of spin bowling. "Conditions also play a big part."

Harbhajan has earned a tremendous reputation after almost singlehandedly demolishing the Australians in the home series early this year and had a record haul of 32 wickets from three Tests.

West Indies coach Roger Harper admitted that his team's fortunes in the series depended heavily on the performance of Brian Lara but said there were some other very capable players in the team too.

Lara, who holds the world record of the highest individual Test score of 375, has been rather inconsistent in recent times but is still averaging in the late 40s.

"We do expect him to lead the way," Harper said. "But there are five other batsmen also in the team. He has the reputation of getting mammoth scores and that's a big cross to bear. But he is still averaging in the 40s and has a decent record. He knows the team wants big runs from him and he knows he can provide it," said Harper.

Hooper believed his team stood a good chance in this competition. "Even though we lost the series against South Africa back home, there were a lot of positives to be had. At the moment, we are looking to gauge where are we in world cricket.

South Africa and Australia are perhaps the two best sides in the world. We want to see if we are in the same bracket as India, Pakistan and England. We know India has been on an upswing. They beat Australia at home. But here the conditions favour fast bowlers and I think we have the ammunition," Hooper said but admitted that Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh would be missed. "They were two mighty performers. But we have five fast bowlers in the team who are very talented."

Hooper brushed aside suggestions that cricket was yielding space to baseball and basket ball in the Caribbean islands. "I think that's an excuse. Cricket is still the life and soul of the Caribbean islands. The game is well-supported financially."

Harper made a relevant point about why the West Indies is struggling at the moment. "We need to understand that the mighty cricketers of the 70s were already developed when they burst on to the Test team. They had an opportunity to round off their talent, thanks to stints in county cricket. It isn't happening at the moment. It will take these players at least two years It is a daunting legacy. It is what we must aim for but it will take time," concluded Harper.

The West Indies squad includes recalled fast bowler Reon King and also Guyanese Mahendra Nagamootoo who has not represented the West Indies since the ill-fated tour of Australia earlier this year.

After the triangular one-day series, West Indies will move to Kenya for a series of one-day internationals.

The squad: Carl Hooper (captain), Ridley Jacobs, Chris Gayle, Daren Ganga, Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Wavell Hinds, Cameron Cuffy, Mervyn Dillon, Reon King, Corey Collymore, Kerry Jeremy, Neil McGarrell and Mahendra Nagamootoo. Manager: Ricky Skerritt. Coach: Roger Harper. Trainer: Ronald Rogers.

© PTI

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