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High voltage clash in the offing

S. Dinakar

India and Windies would be desperate to start off Super Eight with a win

Windies relies too much on the speed and lift of Edwards and Taylor
India needs a change at the No. 3 slot where Raina could be the answer

London: “In Twenty20 cricket, you got to be on the button from the start,” said Zaheer Khan. Much of India’s chances hinge on how it bowls the first six overs when West Indian captain Chris Gayle — expected to be fit for the contest — would attempt to muscle his way through the Power Play overs.

West Indies is a different side when Gayle inflicts early damage. The adversary is dented psychologically and the bowlers are forced into a completely defensive mode which makes it easier for the other batsmen to score freely as well. Australia clearly wilted under Gayle’s onslaught.

In the serene setting of Lord’s, a potentially explosive Super Eight clash beckons on Friday. Both India and the West Indies would be desperate for a win; the losing team would be under immense pressure since it might have to win both its remaining matches to go through to the semifinals.

Form points to India

Form points to India but then the West Indies team which went down to Sri Lanka was without Gayle. Picking up wickets — preferably early on — is often the path to success even in the compressed format that Twenty20 cricket is.

Zaheer and Ishant Sharma could hold the key against Gayle. Zaheer has the ability to move the ball away from the left-hander from over-the-wicket and Gayle has a tendency to attempt big drives in the corridor with minimal footwork. Dhoni would have a slip or two in place for sure. Ishant too bowls well to the southpaws, his natural off-cutter, enhanced by bounce, darts across the left-hander.

In all fairness to Irfan Pathan, he bowled with verve against Ireland. However, Zaheer and Ishant would still make a more potent new ball pair. There is bound to be a measure of assistance for the pacemen. This said, Dhoni could well employ off-spinner Harbhajan Singh as one of the new ball bowlers.

Harbhajan would deny Gayle pace to; feed on and also spin the ball away from the belligerent southpaw. It would be interesting to see how smart India is tactically. The West Indies would rely on the trio of Ramnaresh Sarwan of twinkling footwork, the efficient Shivnarine Chanderpaul and the elegant Dwyane Bravo to cope with the Indian spin duo of Harbhajan and Pragyan Ojha.

Ojha has essentially attacked the batsman with flight and dip. The left-armer rips the ball and there is revolution on the sphere. He spins the ball away, has a handy arm-ball and varies his length to prevent the batsman from settling down.

Greater variety

The Indian attack has greater depth and variety. The West Indies relies too much on the speed and lift of Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor. Rohit Sharma, striking the ball with the ease of a natural, could launch into the West Indian quicks; he creates scoring chances rather than wait for them.

Gautam Gambhir, the other opener, is revelling in different roles but India needs a change at the No. 3 slot where Suresh Raina could be the answer.

Power-hitters

India has the power-hitters down the order and Yusuf Pathan could be a big factor in Super Eight. The West Indies attack could be stretched.

Meanwhile, the ICC has cleared Dinesh Karthik’s name as a replacement for Virender Sehwag.

The teams (from): India: M.S. Dhoni (capt.), G. Gambhir, Rohit, S. Raina, Yuvraj, Yusuf, Irfan, Harbhajan, Zaheer, P. Ojha, Ishant, Praveen, R. Jadeja, R.P. Singh.

West Indies: C. Gayle (capt.), A. Fletcher, R. Sarwan, S. Chanderpaul, X. Marshall, K. Pollard, D. Bravo, D. Ramdin, S. Benn, J. Taylor, F. Edwards, L. Simmons, D. Sammy, D. Bernard, L. Baker.

Umpires: A. Dar & R. Koerzten.

Third umpire: M. Benson.

Match Referee: C. Broad.

Match starts at 10 pm IST.

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