India have a problem of plenty

India seem to have a problem of plenty ahead of the last league encounter of the triangular one-day series against West Indies which is a precursor to the final on July 7.

With both the teams having confirmed their places in the final, it would be a battle for psychological one-upmanship. India's batting and bowling departments are overflowing with in-form players and each of the 15 members of the squad look good enough to make it to the final eleven.

A lot of youngsters got a chance in this tournament to prove their talent and all of them grabbed the opportunity with both hands leaving the team management with the difficult task of selecting the final composition.

The main spots of contention are the medium-pacers slots with as many as five seamers vying for the three places and the number three slot in the batting order left vacant by V V S Laxman who is still nursing his finger injury.

On the other hand, West Indies too are buoyed by the victory against Zimbabwe in the previous game having raised their performance by several notches when the chips were down.

West Indies defeated Zimbabwe in a nail-biting finish and that must have given them a lot of confidence as they go into tomorrow's game hoping to maintain that form.

But the formidable Indian bowling line-up would surely give them sleepless nights. The team management is still to come out with its plans for the medium pacers with the final composition of the team likely to be announced only tomorrow morning.

The three automatic choices in the fast bowling department at the start of the tournament - Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar - were put on alert following the impressive performance by Debasish Mohanty and Harvinder Singh in the last game.

Mohanty and Harvinder, playing their first games of the tour, made the most of the opportunity provided to them and returned figures of 3-18 and 2-25 respectively. They bowled a probing line and troubled the batsmen throughout their spell.

It will be difficult to keep either of them out of the game tomorrow and that could mean bad news for Agarkar or Zaheer. Zaheer, who has bowled consistently well on this tour, also claimed two wickets in the last game conceding 27 runs and it would really be unfortunate if he fails to find a place in the final eleven.

There could also be an unexpected move of including four seamers in the side and that would mean keeping off-spinner Harbhajan Singh out. Though Harbhajan has not been quite as successful on this tour as against the Australians in the home series, he has been impressive. With the West Indies batsmen looking uncomfortable even against modest spinners like Grant Flower and Alistair Campbell, keeping Harbhajan out may not be a very good option

In the batting department, Ganguly is slowly looking to inch back to his elegant self and that would certainly cheer up the Indian side. After his painstakingly compiled 85 against Zimbabwe, the Indian captain looked a lot better with his timing and shot-selection in the last game against West Indies before an unfortunate decision did him in.

With Laxman still nursing his index finger which he injured in the first game against Zimbabwe, Dinesh Mongia seems set to come in at the number three position. The southpaw has looked good in this tournament and should he play tomorrow he would be almost certain for the final eleven.

While Hemang Badani is almost a certainty in the line-up, the inclusion of all-rounder Reetinder Singh Sodhi is not clear. The Punjab youngster is an effective medium-pacer, apart from being a middle-order batsman, and a brilliant fielder.

For West Indies, openers Darren Ganga and Chris Gayle have already notched up one hundred and one near-hundred partnerships and the team would be looking up to them to give them another sound start. Shivnaraine Chanderpaul has failed to live up to his reputation in this tournament and, alongwith captain Carl Hooper, is due for a big score.

Wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs and Marlon Samuels have looked good and Wavel Hinds has shown flashes of his immense talent but West Indies would need all of them to fire tomorrow as also their pacemen.

Mail Cricket Editor