Only Sach matters

KUALA LUMPUR:  India will be hoping to hit the road running when they take on the West Indies at the Kinrara Oval on Thursday. So will be Sachin Tendulkar.

India haven’t played a game of competitive cricket for a while after being forced to stay indoors in Sri Lanka due to the bad weather. Tendulkar hasn’t really been tested since late March, a shoulder injury keeping him out of the game.

The virgin strip is something Indian skipper Rahul Dravid is apprehensive about but the confidence the opposition will carry into the game should be equally worrying. West Indian skipper Brian Lara has reiterated time and again that his team holds a psychological edge over the Indians.

A 4-1 defeat to the West Indies can still play on the mind.The Indian skipper will also have to find someone who can fill into the very large shoes of Yuvraj Singh in the middle order.

Yuvraj has been India’s best finisher over the last season and his absence will be felt. The task is likely to fall on Dinesh Mongia who is set to play his first match in more than a year.

Others in the line-up will also have to quickly change from practice to match mode if India are to start the tournament with a win.

Tendulkar was at the heart of Indian practice sessions on Wednesday. Be it batting, fielding or even mentoring bowlers and batsman alike. On a wicket where the ball can take off and seam around, Tendulkar will have to be at his best.

With the Champions Trophy around the corner, Tendulkar will be eager to be among the runs. Failure in Malaysia will not allow his mind to play the mini-World Cup in India in the right frame of mind.

For India, defeat on Thursday will be a difficult blow to recover from in a series that has World Champions Australia as their second opponent.

If Rahul Dravid opens with Tendulkar, then Virender Sehwag will be thrown the challenge of playing in the middle order, a role he has done in the past but not with as much as success as at the top of the order.

The Indian bowlers will also have to get their act together soon. The Australians, including Glenn McGrath, took a while to get used to the pace and movement off the wicket and the West Indians, in particular Shivnarine Chanderpaul, made them pay for it early on.

Chanderpaul himself admitted on Wednesday that the West Indians will continue to adopt a slam bang approach to their batting, even more reason for the Indian pacemen to get their line and length spot on.

After subjecting the squad to practice camps and many hours of net sessions, coach Greg Chappell will be eager to see how much of his lessons can be put into practice. Playing a confident West Indian squad will be an ideal test, for the team and its superstar Tendulkar. Any signs of rustiness will be costly.

The match starts at noon and would be telecast live on Zee sports. 

Line-ups:
India: Rahul Dravid (capt), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh, Munaf Patel, Rudra Pratap Singh.
West Indies: Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Brian Lara (capt), Dwayne Bravo, Wavell Hinds, Dwayne Smith, Carlton Baugh, Ian Bradshaw, Jerome Taylor, Fidel Edwards.
Umpires: Mark Benson (ENG), Asad Rauf (PAK).
TV umpire: Tony Hill (NZL).
Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG).