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NEWS India-West Indies ODI Series 2007>India keen to rediscover winning ways against Windies 20th Jan 2007 19.50 IST By Agencies Under-performing India will seek to rediscover their winning touch and find the ideal team composition ahead of the world cup as they go into the four-match one-day cricket series against the West Indies in Nagpur on Sunday. The series will provide the beleaguered Indian team another opportunity to sort out their problems, which has persisted for much too long, particularly in the batting department.
Ganguly, who has returned to the one-day squad after a gap of 15 months, will get back to his favourite place at the top and open the innings alongwith another left-hander Gautam Gambhir. The performance of the former captain would be crucial to India’s fortunes against the Caribbeans who seem to enjoy a psychological advantage over Rahul Dravid’s men in recent times with an impressive record of six wins against two losses. A convincing series win is the need of the hour for the Indians who have plunged from one low to another in the ODIs after having started a fine run of 17 wins against 5 defeats last season at the VCA stadium in Nagpur. The string of victories included a superb eight-match winning streak that started against Pakistan in the beginning of 2006 and ended against England in April. The Indian team then lost the plot and shockingly succumbed to the West Indies 1-4 in the Caribbean. The poor show continued in the ICC Champions trophy at home where India's only win came against England. However, the comprehensive 0-4 loss in the five-match series in South Africa resulted in the selectors making as many as six changes for the first two ties of the current series against the West Indies. The team is looking forward to the current series and later against Sri Lanka as part of the preparation for the World Cup. The failure of the openers in recent tournaments have been a worrying factor for the team. The omission of Sehwag means that India will go into the match with a new opening combination of Ganguly and Gambhir while Sachin Tendulkar would shore up the middle order. Dravid said the decision had been taken keeping in mind that the middle-order will be crucial for India`s chances at the World Cup in the Caribbean and Sachin Tendulkar's experience would come in handy in this regard. "The team needs to cover all eventualities and we think the middle-order will be key at the World Cup," Dravid said. The Indians have shortlisted the twelve players for the match leaving out Rudra Pratap Singh , Robin Uthappa and Joginder Sharma. The selection of second wicket keeper Dinesh Karthick in a home series, after his impressive display in the Cape Town Test against South Africa, is another interesting development as the think-tank is impressed with his batting. India might play two spinners in Harbhajan Singh, who has mostly been confined to the bench of late, and off spinner Ramesh Powar to exploit the slow track. Shantakumaran Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan have shown their worth with the new ball in South Africa and are likely to find a place in the playing XI. The team’s most experienced medium pacer Ajit Agarkar might have to warm the reserves bench. Flamboyant opener Chris Gayle and captain Brian Lara would be the thorn for India in the West Indies` ranks. Lara has made it clear that they would like to keep their winning momentum intact and extend their dominance over the hosts. "It’s important for us that we have a psychological advantage and continue with it. There are four one-day games. We are looking to stay dominant over India," Lara said. Lara also sounded wary of a backlash from India following their recent downslide, especially against the Windies who are without some key members like Ramnaresh Ronnie Sarwan and Corey Dalanelo Collymore . "We expect great fight from India in this series. They are coming into this series on the back of poor performances. I know they would be coming (hard) knowing how important this campaign is for them before the World Cup," he said. Lara said the absence of Sarwan and Collymore will provide opportunity to young players to showcase their talent and press for a World Cup spot. "We have got a team just a couple players short of our mainstream team. We have a few players who are not here because of injury or other reason. We are still looking to get our 14 or 15 for the World Cup. "We have a couple of players who are new to one day cricket and a few who are making a comeback like Dwayne Smith. This gives an opportunity to Smith to get his batting right. With a lot at stake for both the teams in the run-up to the mega event in the West Indies in a couple of months, a hard-fought series is on the cards beginning with what promises to be a humdinger at this venue. India have a 50:50 winning record at Nagpur while the visitors, who made it to the ICC Champions Trophy final, have won their only earlier match at this venue. Teams: India: Rahul Dravid (capt), Sourav Ganguly , Sachin Tendulkar , Gautam Gambhir , Dinesh Kaarthick , Suresh Raina , Mahendra Dhoni (wk), Ajit Agarkar , Ramesh Powar , Harbhajan Singh , S Sreesanth , Zaheer Khan . West Indies: Brian Lara (c), Christopher Henry Gayle , Shivnarine Chanderpaul , Runako Morton , Marlon Samuels , Dwayne Bravo , Dwayne Smith , Dinesh Ramdin (wk), Lendl Simmons, Ian Bradshaw , Rayad Emrit, Darren Powell, Devon Smith, Jerome Taylor . Also View In-Depth Coverage: India-West Indies ODI Series 2007 Team Page: India Team Page: West Indies | LIVE CRICKET COVERAGE NEWS ~ Gilchrist has no plans to retire after World Cup ~ Ganguly's new batting approach may cost him sixer record ~ India 'squash the Orange' in World Cup warm-up game ~ Symonds gets a new hairdo for World Cup ~ Dhoni readies himself for stand-up act at World Cup (more in NEWS) FACE-TO-FACE ~ 500-mark a possibility in World Cup: Hayden ~ Minnows add charm to World Cup: Dravid (more in FACE-TO-FACE) COLUMNS ~ Will Sri Lanka replicate 1996 World Cup success? (more in COLUMNS) OFF-THE-FIELD ~ Ganguly again the darling of corporate world ~ Ganguly roped in as brand ambassador of Puma (more in OFF-THE-FIELD) PLAYERS Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble (more PLAYERS) TEAMS India, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, West Indies, Zimbabwe, England, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Kenya, Holland | 
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