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Test of character for both India, West Indies

The last match of the seven-match one-day international series will be a test of character for both the Indian and the West Indian team. The series is tied with both sides having won three matches each.

The West Indies will try to salvage some of their pride after the battering they received in the three-match Test series while India, braving the absence of key players, will be keen to keep their record and their impressive run rate intact.

Rahul Dravid, the stand-in skipper for Sourav Ganguly, has one more record to keep. India have won all three one-dayers that he has captained. Though Dravid has played down his victory calling it 'incidental', he admitted wanting to add this win to his cap.

"It's just been three matches. So we can't read too much into it. The fact is that we have been batting quite well in this series. I think we have a very good chance of winning the deciding match," he said.

But Dravid knows the task would be far from easy as the side is playing without top batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar and Ganguly and pace spearhead Zaheer Khan. Also, they will have to counter an increasingly aggressive opponent.

The West Indies, starting as underdogs, have managed to surprise cynics in the one-dayers. They not only took a 2-0 lead in the series, but also gave the Indians a run for their money in the other matches. Openers Chris Gayle and Wavell Hinds have started off well in the matches.

The one thing that is in India's favour is the fact that someone or the other from the Indian side has managed to deliver when the going got tough.

Rahul Dravid and Sanjay Bangar are being hailed as the surprise packages of the series. Dravid, enjoying a terrific season having completed 1000 runs in Test cricket, has worked on his one-day game. He compares with the hard-hitting Gayle in this series with his strike rate.

Dravid hasn't really been hitting sixes and fours, but has been quick between the wickets and has paced his innings well. Having led by example, he is expecting his boys to peak in Sunday's final.

The outcome of the match would depend a lot on the bowling attack. The first five matches have all been high-scoring ones. Even Mervyn Dillon and Anil Kumble with all their experience have failed to trouble the batsmen on the Indian pitches. While Dillon, reportedly nursing an injury, has not played in the last two matches, an out-of-form Kumble has missed the last three.

The previous match at Jodhpur, however, saw a departure from the trend and the bowlers managed to make a mark. Ajit Agarkar was declared the man-of-the-match.

West Indies skipper Carl Hooper admitted that the pitch at Jodhpur had something in it for the bowlers. He felt that if the West Indian team had managed to bat out their quota of 50 overs and score 30 runs more, they could have won the match.

A West Indies win would have meant a reversal of the trend that has seen teams batting second winning the match. Given this trend, the toss will be vital on Sunday though the teams seem to be prepared for any eventuality.

Both sides are expected to retain more or less the same playing eleven. But India may drop Reetinder Singh Sodhi, after the all-rounder failed with the bat at a crucial juncture at Jodhpur.

Though Sodhi did not get to bowl in the match, it is likely that India will include the more trusted bowler Harbhajan Singh.

Murali Kartik is sure to play after his bowling contribution in the fourth and sixth matches. The venue of the match, the Indira Priyadarshini Stadium, will be hosting an international game for the first time. It is difficult to predict how the pitch will behave though it seems to be a batting strip.

The match between the Board President's XI and Zimbabwe was the last that was played at this strip earlier this year. Security arrangements have been tightened with about 600 policemen deployed around the venue.

India: Rahul Dravid (captain/wicketkeeper), Virender Sehwag, V V S Laxman, Dinesh Mongia, Sanjay Bangar, Mohammad Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Ajit Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, Javagal Srinath, Ashish Nehra, Sarandeep Singh, Parthiv Patel.

West Indies: Carl Hooper (captain), Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ricardo Powell, Ridley Jacobs (wicketkeeper), Mervyn Dillon, Cameron Cuffy, Pedro Collins, Vasbert Drakes, Jermaine Lawson, Daren Ganga, Corey Collymore.

Umpires: A V Jayaprakash (India) and Asoka de Silva (Sri Lanka).

Third Umpire: I Sivaram (India)

Match referee: Mike Proctor (South Africa).

Batting

Player	Inns	NO	50s	100s	HS	Runs	Avg
R R Sarwan (WIN)	6	3	3	0	*99	353	117.67
S B Bangar (IND)	3	2	1	0	*57	116	116.00
R S Dravid (IND)	5	2	2	1	*109	297	99.00
R L Powell (WIN)	3	2	0	0	*30	78	78.00
C H Gayle (WIN)	6	0	1	3	140	450	75.00
V V S Laxman (IND)	6	1	3	0	99	290	58.00
A B Agarkar (IND)	3	1	1	0	95	107	53.50
C L Hooper (WIN)	4	2	0	0	38	99	49.50
S C Ganguly (IND)	5	0	3	0	78	247	49.40
V Sehwag (IND)	6	1	1	1	*114	217	43.40

Bowling

Player	O	M	R	W	Best	Avg	S/R	E/R
P T Collins (WIN)	38	2	198	8	3/60	24.75	28.50	5.21
S B Bangar (IND)	12	2	58	2	2/39	29.00	36.00	4.83
V C Drakes (WIN)	47.4	1	268	9	3/38	29.78	31.78	5.65
M Kartik (IND)	30	1	120	4	3/36	30.00	45.00	4.00
C D Collymore (WIN)	23.2	0	133	4	2/42	33.25	35.00	5.73
A B Agarkar (IND)	31	2	176	4	3/24	44.00	46.50	5.68
Harbhajan Singh (IND)	45	2	245	5	2/53	49.00	54.00	5.44
V Sehwag (IND)	47.5	0	262	5	1/37	52.40	57.40	5.52
J Srinath (IND)	41.5	3	222	4	2/35	55.50	62.75	5.35
M V Dillon (WIN)	36	0	228	4	2/65	57.00	54.00	6.33

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