India to try new players against wobbly West Indies

NORTH SOUND: India can close on a clean sweep against the West Indies with victory in the fourth one-day international of the five-match series here on Monday.

But their captain Suresh Raina has strongly hinted that they are likely to give a few more players exposure in the match at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground.

The Indians took an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the series following a three-wicket victory in the third ODI on Saturday at the same venue.

With several senior players either rested or injured, following a surfeit of cricket over the preceding six months, the visitors have chosen a young squad who have acquitted themselves well so far.

Raina disclosed that the world champions are likely to make a few changes to their winning squad.

Manoj Tiwary, Vinay Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Wriddihiman Saha, who are all yet to play in any of the ODIs, are therefore expected to get some time on the field.

"We have a couple of guys sitting on the bench," said Raina. "I hope everyone gets a chance in the last two games."

Raina was excited about the way his side has played so far, considering they had little time to prepare for the series.

Most of the players were engaged in the Indian Premier League (IPL), and that ended only a week prior to the opening match on the Caribbean tour.

"God has been very kind to all the boys," he said. "Credit goes to (coach) Duncan Fletcher, (bowling consultant) Eric Simons and the other support staff. We have gelled well as a team."

Raina hailed spinner Amit Mishra, whose leg-spin has bamboozled the West Indies batsmen in the last two matches in particular, and believes he will be a threat in the three-Test series that follows.

The first Test opens on Monday, June 20, at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica, where India clinched a famous victory five years ago under the leadership of Rahul Dravid, ending a 35-year drought for a series win in the Caribbean.

"Credit goes to Amit Mishra for bowling well," said Raina. "We have the Tests coming up and these tracks are helpful for leggies.

"He has been among the wickets in the IPL and against South Africa as well, so I expect him to also do well here."

West Indies captain Darren Sammy can only hope that his side can use the typically relaxed atmosphere of a dead-rubber to regain some of the gloss that has been wiped away from his side.

Sammy found it difficult to come up with answers about why his side has found it so challenging, but feels the batsmen need to put things right before the series is finished.

"We have not been getting runs at the top," he said. "We have been getting a lot of lower order runs, and it has been happening from the previous series (against Pakistan).

"We still have to work on it, but I can't fault the effort of the guys. They showed a lot of character (on Saturday).

"Everybody believed that we could win, after we fought back so well, but we lacked the finishing touch.

"But like the Pakistan ODI series, we will be going all out to win the last two matches to try and redeem ourselves."

West Indies have now lost all five ODIs they have played at the VRCG, following its inauguration four years ago ahead of the 2007 World Cup.

Squads
West Indies (from): Darren Sammy (capt), Carlton Baugh Jr, Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, Kirk Edwards, Danza Hyatt, Kemar Roach, Anthony Martin, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lendl Simmons

India (from): Suresh Raina (capt), Subramaniam Badrinath, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Amit Mishra, Munaf Patel, Parthiv Patel, Yusuf Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh

Umpires: Ian Gould (ENG), Norman Malcolm (WIS)
TV umpire: Peter Nero (WIS)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)
Reserve umpire: Gregory Brathwaite (WIS) (AFP)