India and their opponents settle back down to the bump and grind of 50 overs-a-side matches, following a heavy diet of Twenty20 cricket for several of the players in the form of the second edition of the Indian Premier League in South Africa and the World Twenty20 in England.  But it’s the World Twenty20 which is still fresh on the minds of the Indians.They entered the competition as defending champions, and finished empty-handed, much to the chagrin of their legions of supporters at home and around the world.They were humiliated, when they exited the competition following three defeats in the Super Eight stage, including a seven-wicket loss to the west indies Tiredness and injuries were some of the factors advanced for India’s demise, but they have had close to two weeks to relax and recharge the batteries.  Against this backdrop, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has asked his players to come forward and be truthful about their fitness ahead of the series.
“For me, it’s the team first and then the individuals and I’d hope it’s the same with everyone else in the group,” Dhoni said.  “If rest is the cure for an injury, a cricketer ought to opt for it rather than let fatigue or niggles become a major setback to him and to the team.
“If anyone wants to take a break from the game, they should let me know or the BCCI.”

India have also had time to beef-up their personnel for the four-match series to mitigate against the injuries which have robbed them of star batting duo Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, the latter of whom was sorely missed in the World Twenty20, plus Zaheer Khan and Suresh Raina. However, the new recruits have encountered a few difficulties with getting visas to travel through Britain. Now ranked as the third-best ODI side in the World, India will see this as a chance to leapfrog Australia, and take aim at chart-toppers South Africa, setting the stage for another invigorating series. India hasn’t played an ODI series since they prevailed in New Zealand in March, but they have lost only three of their last 18 matches, and have emerged as one of strongest ODI sides over the last year. But they face a west indies  side with their own demons to exorcise, following a miserable Test and ODI series against England. The home team, however, marginally redeemed themselves with a semi-final place in the World Twenty20 in which they beat england to reach the final four.  They enter the series however, as strangers in their own land, since India have been in the Jamaica capital getting down to business since last Friday, and the West Indies players – including a few fresh faces – only started arriving on Tuesday.  West Indies coach John Dyson will instruct his side to play aggressive cricket to push the Indians to the limit.

“We will play aggressive cricket, we will play to win as always, and we will aim for consistency,” said Dyson.

“We always look at the opposition and try and determine who the key players are for the opposition and think of ways that we may combat those key players.

“What we don’t know, of course, is from the lower-profile players, how they are going to perform and perform consistently throughout a series. So that’s something we have to monitor as the series progresses.

“(Winning) – it depends on the sort of pitches we’re playing on, the conditions of the day, and the form of our own players, and the opposition players.”

The short ODI series against India is part of a busy home programme for West Indies, who also host Bangladesh for two Tests, three ODIs and a T20 International in July and August.

Squads:

West Indies: Chris Gayle (capt), Denesh Ramdin, Lionel Baker, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Sulieman Benn, David Bernard Jr, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Runako Morton, Ravi Rampaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Yusuf Pathan, Murali Vijay, Subramaniam Badrinath, Rudra Pratap Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik.

QnA:  Can India win under arrogant Dhoni?

“We were happy to be in the Twenty20 and happy to make the semi-finals but we’re disappointed in the way we lost the game. We’re now focused on rebounding by winning here against India,” Gayle said.

“We’re working hard to get a strong start on Friday and capitalise on that throughout the series,” he added.

Gayle said India would be determined to prove a point against his team at the Sabina Park tomorrow while the hosts would want to belt as many wins as possible making it a tough and interesting series.

“Both teams are looking to win and they (Indians) are trying to prove something against us. At the same time we want to get more wins under our belt and continue our development. It’s going to be a tough series but we’re excited about it and want to have fun and play some good cricket all around.

West Indies cautious against Harbhajan factor: Sarwan

Describing Harbhajan Singh as an important performer for India, West Indies batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan said his team would have to “stay positive” against the off-spinner as they meet in the four-match ODI series beginning tomorrow.

Sarwan also said his team will have to click as a unit as they tackle the Indian bowling attack.

“We’ve got experience within experience and hopefully we’ll come together as a unit. Over the years, we’ve tried to rotate the strike as much as we can but we know how good Harbhajan Singh is and he’s been a very good performer for India over the years,” Sarwan said.

The Guyanese felt the key to his side’s success in the series beginning at Sabina Park, would be how well it could work on the ball. “It’s important that (the West Indies) stay positive against him as well and the rest of the bowlers that we’ll be playing against but I think the key, when we play India, is to try and work the ball as much as we can,” he said.

Sarwan also felt that irrespective of their recent Super Eight match win over India in the Twenty20 World Cup in England the Indians would be “a handful in the Caribbean”.

Hurt after the early exit from the ICC World Twenty20, India are keen to extract revenge for their loss against the West Indies in the tournament that paved the path for their early ouster. There may be a huge gulf in the teams’ rankings in one-dayers, with India at number three and the West Indies at number seven, but it is clear that Team India will not have things their way in the Caribbean. India’s last tour to the West Indies was a forgettable one, as they were knocked out in the first round of the 2007 50-over World Cup. In their last ODI series there in 2006, India went down 1-4. The only surviving members of that squad are Mahendra Singh Dhoni, RP Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh. Mohammad Kaif was the most successful batsman on that tour with 205 runs in five innings at 51.25, including three half-centuries, while Yuvraj Singh also had a decent outing with the bat, scoring 183 runs in four matches at 45.75. The West Indies thus start the series as favourites, particularly after having outplayed India in the Super Eights match of the World Twenty20 tournament. Their fast bowlers proved a handful for the Indian batsmen, who were found wanting against the short deliveries and those tactics could well be used by the West Indies pacers again on home soil.

Ojha will be a vital cog in India’s bowling attack

The pitches in the island nation have slowed over the last few years and do suit Indian batsmen, but this time India have a depleted line-up.

The absence of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar is a big blow and the new additions, in the form of Murali Vijay and S Badrinath, who didn’t have a great IPL, don’t look too encouraging either.

India’s bowling attack will be led by Harbhajan Singh, who need to return to wicket ways soon.

In 2006 he had a poor outing, taking just three wickets in five games at an average of 3.91. His overall record against the West Indies is 23 wickets in 22 games at 36.47.

Pragyan Ojha had some good matches in the World Twenty20 and was unlucky not to play in the last few games, but he should form a vital cog in India’s bowling attack.

Left-armer RP Singh showed good form during the few games he played in World Twenty20, but Ishant Sharma’s struggle continued.

Comeback man Ashish Nehra has not played international cricket for nearly four years now and Praveen Kumar has also not featured in too many games in the recent past.

Dhoni’s form remains a concern

The biggest concern for India, though, is the form of their captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

The right-hander struggled big time and scored just 86 runs in five matches in the World Twenty20 at 21.50.

But he is on top of the ODI rankings for quite a while now and did well in the last series in New Zealand, scoring two half-centuries.

He will also be keen to improve his poor record in the West Indies that has seen him amass just 124 runs in eight matches at 17.71.