India look to seal series, West Indies reassert dominance over hosts

Cuttack, Jan 23: The word 'tricky' will be playing on captain Rahul Dravid's mind when he takes to the field tomorrow striving to keep up the winning momentum against a spirited West Indies in the second one-dayer at the Barabati Stadium here.

Immediately after winning the first ODI against the Caribbeans at Nagpur, Dravid said the pitch in Cuttack is 'slow and tricky and we have to be on our toes'. He has evidently not forgotten Scott Styris, who single-handedly robbed India of a victory when they played New Zealand last time at this venue under his stewardship, after the then captain Sourav Ganguly opted out due to an injury.

Coming to terms with the dew became a problem for the Indian bowlers, as New Zealand stole the match after being 50 for four at one time. He would keep that in mind during the toss.

Dravid further said he preferred to play with five bowlers and was looking to play an all-rounder. Another lesson the Indian skipper had learnt. This time in Nagpur, when the West Indies chasing India's huge total of 338 came precariously close losing just by 14 runs. And the plugging in for the fifth bowler could have proven costly.

With comeback man Ganguly setting the stage by scoring an electrifying 98, the star studded Indian batting line-up -- derided for its poor show in the recent South Africa tour -- sparkled to give the hosts a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.

However, the Indians can hardly relax. West Indies demonstrated what they were capable of when Shivnarine Chanderpaul went ballistic putting the home side on a sticky wicket, before they finally scraped through.

The game at the Barabati stadium, which is hosting an ODI after a three-year gap, is vital for both teams in deciding the series. An Indian triumph would mean the hosts cannot lose the rubber, while for the West Indies it is a battle for keeping alive their chances of taking home the series.

Pitch Curator Prabir Mukherjee, however, feels that it would be an ideal one-day track. Mr Mukherjee told UNI, ''It will be a belter of a track in the morning and if the dew factor comes into play in the evening, it could take the pace off the pitch.'' ''So the team that wins the toss should bat first. It will be an advantage,'' he said. Asked if the ball would get soggy in the evening if the dew factor comes in, Mr Mukherjee said, ''That could be an issue only if the dew is much more.'' This could also see either of Ramesh Power or Joginder Sharma making it to the side. In that case it can be Dinesh Karthik, whose batting prowess has kept him in the side, who has to sit out. A lot of thought will go into retaining Ajit Agarkar who gave away 75 runs for his 10 overs and S Sreesanth who gave 79 from his 10, with one wicket each for show. However, the consistency factor could well work to Sreesanth's advantage.

The fact that the Caribbeans are uncomfortable playing spin could also be a prompting factor for Powar's case. R P Singh bowled his heart out at the nets and Agarkar could well find him breathing down his neck.

Ganguly has fully recovered from his calf muscle injury to boost India's chances. Dravid said, ''If Sourav continues to bat the way he is at present he has a lot to give to the side.''

The Brian Lara-led Caribbeans have dominated India in ODIs in the recent past, and victories in six of the last nine matches is indicator enough of that. In fact, such was their confidence level, that Lara was heard using expressions like 'continuing with the psychological advantage' and 'looking forward to staying dominant over India' during his media interactions in the run-up to the series.

On a low after the 0-4 drubbing against South Africa days back, the Men in Blue could not have dreamt of a better beginning to boost their morale and get their adrenaline level high against the tourists from the calypso land.

All frontline Indian batsmen, save veteran Sachin Tendulkar, struck half-centuries, and the new opening combine of Ganguly and Goutam Gambhir went cracking.

For 'Prince of Kolkata' Ganguly, virtually written off since 2005 by those who matter in Indian cricket, his return to big time cricket is now complete.

If South Africa marked the talismanic left hander's rebirth in Test cricket, Nagpur saw his royal re-entry into the ODI fold, which in turn gave a fresh spark to India's often faltering charge towards the World Cup.

Gambhir's aggressive 69 has meant that the Delhi opener was in the driver's seat at least for now. For under-pressure wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the cracker of an innings at Nagpur could not have come at a better time.

West Indies, losing the ever-reliable Ramnaresh Sarwan to injury, would be hoping for another scintillating performance from their crack opening duo of Chris Gayle and Chanderpaul.

Gayle, adjudged the man of the tournament for his consistent success stories both with the bat and the ball in the ICC Champions Trophy in India late last year, is a player who can single-handedly win a match for his side on his day, while the cool-as-cucumber Chanderpaul always fancies his chances against the Indian attack.

Lara and Marlon Samuels have also come up with disciplined performance in the series opener and would like to repeat that.

However, the concern would be their bowling. With Ian Bradshaw suddenly looking off-colour and Jerome Taylor not showing any conviction, the opening bowling looks to be a bit disoriented. And filling in the spaces with bits and pieces bowler with the Men in Blue showing some form could well spell doom for them. The fact that Chris Gayle was their most successful bowler could be something to think about.

For those statistically inclined, Barabati has been a happy hunting ground for India, though the script seems to have changed of late.

The hosts have won six of their 10 matches at the venue, but went down to England and New Zealand in their last two ties.

West Indies, on the other hand, have featured only once in the 1994-95 season, when they went down to India by eight wickets. Lara and Chanderpaul are the only two surviving members from that game in the present squad.

India last played here against New Zealand in 2003 and lost.

But irrespective of what the statistics have to say, the fact remains the West Indians have had the upper hand against the Indians off-late and the match will be played on even keel when the two clash here tomorrow.

The teams (from): India: Rahul Dravid (capt), Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Kathick, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Ajit Agarkar, Ramesh Powar, Harbhajan Singh, S Sreesanth, Zaheer Khan, Robin Uthappa, Joginder Sharma and Rudra Pratap Singh.

West Indies: Brian Lara (capt), Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Runako Morton, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Dinesh Ramdin (wk), Lendl Simmons, Ian Bradshaw, Rayad Emrit, Darren Powell, Devon Smith and Jerome Taylor.

Umpires: Billy Bowden (New Zealand) and Amish Saheba (India).

Third umpire: G A Pratapkumar.

Fourth umpire: Ravi Subramanian.

Match referee: Allan Hurst (Australia).

UNI