da doce： Indian captain Saurav Ganguly confirmed that V V S Laxman will play inthe final of the triangular one-day series against West Indies inHarare on Saturday while Ajit Agarkar and Harvinder Singh were thebowlers likely to be left out of the eleven
da fazobetai： 07-Jul-2001Indian captain Saurav Ganguly confirmed that V V S Laxman will play inthe final of the triangular one-day series against West Indies inHarare on Saturday while Ajit Agarkar and Harvinder Singh were thebowlers likely to be left out of the eleven.Laxman, who injured his left index finger while taking a catch inIndia’s first game against Zimbabwe, is fit and will take his positionat number three.”I think we would more or less play the same side as on Wednesday(against West Indies in the last league match) with only Laxman comingin,” Ganguly said.While he did not spell it out, Harvinder Singh who played in the lastgame might be the other one to be excluded having conceded 65 runs inthat match. Agarkar, who missed the previous match due to injury, isfit but the other bowlers seem to have slightly better credentials.Coach John Wright too stopped short of naming the final eleven butmade his preference clear when he said he would go with fourspecialist bowlers “who could bowl dot balls and field well.”The exclusion of Agarkar and Harvinder would mean Ashish Nehra,Debasish Mohanty and Zaheer Khan bagging the three berths for fastbowlers while Harbhajan Singh would be the only spinner in the side.”Our batting looks stronger with the return of Laxman,” Ganguly said.”Our bowlers too have done a very good job, especially in the lastgame where, I thought, we did well enough to restrict them (WestIndies) to 229 for five.”When reminded that India had lost the last three finals they havefeatured in, Wright said, “I am not really interested in history. AllI can say is that boys would give everything to win this match.””I think the thing about the finals is that you got to do the basicsright, keep it simple. That way you give yourself the best chance towin the finals.”We played good cricket in the last four games. We have just improvedas we’ve got along in the fielding. As for batting, even though(Sachin) Tendulkar has been oustanding, we generally had somebody inthe end,” he said. “The players are aware it is a big game and want todo well.”Ganguly, who has won the toss and put in the opposition to bat in allthe four matches, felt the wicket wasn’t a big factor any more in thecompetition. “We got a good track in the last game and this appears tobe equally good for the finals,” he said.But West Indian skipper Carl Hooper said he would still opt to fieldfirst on winning the toss as the pitch looked to offer help to thebowlers in the first 5-10 overs.”It generally flattens out to be a very good batting pitch (afterthat),” Hooper said. “It (the pitch) is better in the afternoon forthe batsmen so I would opt to field first if I win the toss.”Hooper felt his fast bowlers had been found lacking in doing thecontaining job and needed to get their act together in the finalagainst quality Indian batting.”Our quicks have gone for some runs in the first 15 overs,” Hoopersaid and brushed aside suggestions that he should employ more spinnersagainst India.”I think it is preferred to have pacemen rather than spinners againstthe Indians. It is quite a thing to say that Indians are susceptibleto spinners.”Hooper said his young batsmen have got on to a good start but failedto convert those 50-60s. “I think as an opener if you are able to batfor 20-30 overs, you should be able to bat till the end. It hasn’thappened but I am hopeful for the final” he said.Hooper admitted that the injury to paceman (Cameron) Cuffy and thebanning of wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs were big blows to his side.”Cuffy’s is a real blow because he was such a good influence on thebowling. As for Jacobs, we are lucky we have him available for thefinal. It could have been lot worse.”Hooper believed the Indian side, though quite formidable, lacked someexperience. “I don’t think it is the strongest Indian side I have everplayed against. They are missing Javagal Srinath and a bit ofexperience in the eleven.”
