The visitors may be short on star power but West Indies will do well not to underestimate the lesser known Indian cricketers, coach John Dyson said.
The visitors may be short on star power but West Indies will do well not to underestimate the lesser known Indian cricketers, coach of the home side John Dyson said.
The visiting Indian team is without their star players Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan. Instead, the team under MS Dhoni has the likes of Abhishek Nayar, S Badrinath and Murali Vijay in the ranks.
Dyson said the hosts would make a mistake if they take the Indian rookies lightly in the four-match ODI series starting at Sabina Park here on Friday.
“We don’t know how they’re going to perform and that’s something we have to monitor as the series progresses,” Dyson said.
Dyson arrived in Jamaica on Tuesday with six other West Indies players, including Trinidadian Darren Bravo, Dwayne’s brother and the coach felt the youngster stood a good chance in the series.
“If you look at the possible side that could walk out on the field, we have an extra batsman, we have an all-rounder who is also a very good batsman, normal pace and reserved pace which is good and spinner. Hopefully, (Chris) Gayle will be providing back-up spin to him,” he said.
Meanwhile, West Indies skipper Chris Gayle believes that Dhoni’s side however depleted, would seek to settle score in the four-match series.
“We have a big game on Friday against India. We’re all looking forward to it,” Gayle said. “India is always a good one day team and they will be looking to beat us based on their Twenty20 disappointment,” he added.
Gayle said even though India would be without star batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, the bunch is still good enough to make life miserable for the hosts.
“Sehwag and Tendulkar are two world class players but they still have quality players to step up and they have a lot of experience in one day cricket. They still have quality players in Yuvraj (Singh), Harbhajan Singh, (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni, (Ishant) Sharma and a lot of guys to give us a lot of trouble,” Gayle said.
“So it’s not a situation where we will say it’s a walkover. It’s never a walkover against India,” he added.
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