India to blood Yadav in first ODI

India will field 28-year-old Jaiprakash Yadav in the first one-day international against West Indies on Wednesday as they continue their search for an all-rounder ahead of next year's World Cup.

Yadav, who scored a century and grabbed six wickets as national champions Railways beat Rest of India in a domestic Irani Cup tie last week, wins a place after an injury to Sachin Tendulkar and the poor form of left-hander Dinesh Mongia.

"We're looking for an all-rounder ahead of next year's World Cup and we want to give Yadav an opportunity," said Indian captain Sourav Ganguly after a team practice session.

"He has done well in domestic matches. You will see him on the ground tomorrow."

Ganguly led India to a 2-0 win over West Indies in their three-Test series last week but lost Tendulkar for the seven one-dayers due to a hamstring injury sustained during his match-saving 176 in the final Test.

"Most probably we're leaving out (Javagal) Srinath, (Sanjay) Bangar and Mongia. We want to give the new boys a go," he said.

Vangipurappu Laxman, who struck an unbeaten 154 on the final day of the third Test, takes Tendulkar's batting slot.

"It's a good opportunity for Laxman, he's a world class player. He hasn't had enough chances in one-dayers," Ganguly said.

India will be relying on their young batting trio of Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif, who have notched up match-winning knocks in recent months for a fast improving team.

"We have been playing well in the last few months. I hope we'll continue our good form here," Ganguly said.

India won a one-day series in West Indies and a triangular tournament in England earlier this year before emerging joint winners with Sri Lanka in the Champions Trophy, where the Windies were knocked out in the first round.

BOUNCE BACK

West Indies captain Carl Hooper will be hoping his team can bounce back after they were thrashed in the test series.

"The one-dayers are a totally different ball game," Hooper told reporters at the Keenan Stadium. "Hopefully we'll pick up from the positive work in Calcutta."

West Indies lost the first two Tests with more than a day to spare but amassed 497 in their first innings to draw the third.

"We are a better one-day side compared to Tests and in the next couple of months before the World Cup we'll see how good we really are," Hooper said.

Hooper has big hopes for all-rounder Ricardo Powell, one of the three one-day specialists called up along with all-rounder Vasbert Drakes and medium-pacer Corey Collymore.

They replace Cameron Cuffy, Gareth Breese, Jermaine Lawson, Darren Powell and Daren Ganga, who was left out after the Windies pruned their 15-member squad to 14.

"Apart from being a good bat, Ricardo is a brilliant fielder and a handy off-spinner," Hooper said. "He should do well."

But Hooper was not happy with the Jamshedpur pitch.

"The wicket is very dry, I'm surprised at the number of cracks in it. People say it is good but it looks funny."

Ganguly seemed to agree. "It's a new wicket, it does have a lot of cracks," he said. "We have requested the groundsman to roll it some more but I don't think it will behave that badly."

Teams (from):

West Indies - Carl Hooper (captain), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Mervyn Dillon, Vasbert Drakes, Chris Gayle, Ryan Hinds, Wavell Hinds, Ridley Jacobs, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Ricardo Powell, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan.

India - Saurav Ganguly (captain), Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Vangipurappu Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Ashish Nehra, Anil Kumble, Jaiprakash Yadav.

Mail Cricket Editor