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West Indies in India, 2006-07
January 21 - 31 |
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Switching into world-cup mode
With the World Cup just a few weeks away, India are preparing for cricket's grandest prize by hosting the West Indies.
India will use this four-match series to fine-tune their team balance, play their batsmen into form, and identify their
final 14 for the Caribbean. India's limited-overs performances during the latter half of 2006 were abysmal and a drastic
turnaround is required if they are to satisfy the billion hopes pinned on them. West Indies had a successful 2006 in which
they defied all odds by qualifying for the Champions Trophy final. They also thrashed India 4-1 at home; rest assured India
will be determined to return the favour.
Full West Indies in India Coverage
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With an impressive performance during the Test series in South Africa, Sourav Ganguly has forced his way back into the one-day team.
© AFP |
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Weather - Nagpur |
| Mostly Sunny - High: 31 ° |
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Online
Live ball-by-ball
coverage on Cricinfo
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Schedule
1st ODI
Nagpur - 21 Jan
2nd ODI
Cuttack - 24 Jan
3rd ODI
Chennai - 27 Jan
4th ODI
Vadodara - 31 Jan
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India 1 R Dravid (captain), 2 SR Tendulkar (vice-captain), 3 AB Agarkar, 4 MS Dhoni (wicketkeeper), 5 G Gambhir, 6 SC Ganguly, 7 Harbhajan Singh, 8 Joginder Sharma, 9 KD Karthik, 10 Z Khan, 11 RR Powar, 12 SK Raina, 13 RP Singh, 14 S Sreesanth, 15 AR Uthappa.
West Indies 1 BC Lara (captain), 2 IDR Bradshaw, 3 DJ Bravo, 4 S Chanderpaul, 5 RR Emrit, 6 CH Gayle, 7 RS Morton, 8 DB Powell, 9 D Ramdin (wicketkeeper), 10 DJG Sammy, 11 MN Samuels, 12 LMP Simmons, 13 DS Smith, 14 JE Taylor.
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| Your guide to who's hot and who's not in the West Indies tour of India. |
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Zaheer Khan
After spending nine
months on the sidelines, during which he took buckets of wickets for Worcestershire, a lean and mean Zaheer Khan made an
outstanding return on India's tour of South Africa. He took six wickets in four matches and consistently troubled the
South African top order with the new ball. He was Graeme Smith's nemesis, dismissing him three times in the one-dayers
and one in the Pro20. He carried his good form into the Test series, taking 13 wickets at 30.38. If he can sustain his form
against West Indies, a ticket to the Caribbean is a certainty. |
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Dinesh Karthik
Pluck. That was the
standout feature of Dinesh Karthik's performances in South Africa. He didn't do much in the three ODIs he played.
However, he played a matchwinning hand in the Twenty20 and showed a lot of heart against a battery of fast-bowlers in
the final Test at Cape Town. He made 63 and 38 not out and looked to dominate the bowling - something the other
batsmen shied away from doing. His batting form and agility with the gloves has warned Mahendra Singh Dhoni against complacency. |
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Jerome Taylor
Jerome Taylor finished 2006 as the 4th highest wicket-taker in ODIs with 39 wickets and promised so much more.
He may be only 22 years old but showed maturity beyond his years when the situation demanded. His matchwinning spell
of 4 for 49 including a hat-trick at the death against Australia played a crucial role in West Indies reaching the
final of the Champions Trophy. He also had a satisfactory Test series in Pakistan, taking 13 wickets in three Tests. |
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Chris Gayle
Much of the success
West Indies enjoyed in 2006 was due to Chris Gayle's form with the bat. It was his most productive year, one in which he finished
as the second highest run-scorer with 1217 runs at 41.96 with four hundreds. His century against South Africa in the
Champions Trophy semi-final was a powerful performance and, though he had a disappointing tour of Pakistan, he'll be
looking forward to returning to form on placid Indian tracks. And oh, he bowls very useful and economical offspin too.
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Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid ended 2006
with a whimper. His poor form made a tremendous difference to India’s fortunes in South Africa. Without his steadying influence
in the middle-order, there was no one for the other batsmen to play around and a collapse never seemed far away.
He made 81 runs in two ODIs before a finger injury sidelined him for the last two games. He recovered in time for the
Tests but could muster only 125 runs in six innings. It was only his third series (of at least two Tests) in which he failed to
score a fifty. If India are to fare well in the World cup, Dravid's needs to find his form and fast. |
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Harbhajan Singh
Until very recently,
Harbhajan Singh was India's first choice spinner in ODIs. Anil Kumble was not in the picture and there was no one else with the
quality to challenge Harbhajan. That has changed. Harbhajan's form in recent matches has been dire and, unless he shows
improvement in the upcoming series, he'll be hard pressed to keep his spot in the XI. Harbhajan was left out of the
Tests in South Africa after a dismal performance in the one-day internationals where he took 1 for 161 in three matches and
conceded 5.75 runs per over. |
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Denesh Ramdin
Denesh Ramdin hasn't
been West Indies first choice wicketkeeper in one-day internationals in recent months. He wasn't picked either for the DLF Cup
in Malaysia or for the Champions Trophy in India. After being picked for the tour to Pakistan, Ramdin failed to impress with
the bat, scoring just 36 runs in three innings. He has to impress in India to raise his chances of being West Indies'
first-choice stumper in the World Cup. |
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Runako Morton
Apart from a solid 90
against the Australians in the Champions Trophy match at Mumbai, Runako Morton has not had much else to shout about in terms of
substantial contributions with the bat. He averaged 8 in three games against India at home, 13.50 in the DLF Cup, 45.66 in
four innings in the Champions Trophy and scored only 64 in three innings during the one-day series in Pakistan.
With Marlon Samuels returning to form and Dwayne Bravo back in the side, Morton could have his work cut out to retain his
place after Ramnaresh Sarwan returns from injury. |
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Sourav Ganguly
Maharaj is
back and he returned in style by scoring an unbeaten 51 in his first innings in South Africa. He finished the tour as
India's most successful batsman in Tests scoring 214 runs at 42.80 and his good form paved the way for his return to the
one-day squad as well. Ganguly has been a far more successful batsman in ODIs than Tests and if he makes a successful comeback,
India could revert back to that destructive opening firm of Ganguly and Tendulkar. Watch out Virender Sehwag. |
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