Cuttack, Jan 23: India would go into the second cricket one-dayer against the West Indies here tomorrow with a five-pronged bowling attack, seeking to maintain their winning momentum on a track which is likely to assist slow bowlers. Encouraged by the form of the top order batsmen, the Indian think tank has decided to draft in an extra bowler in Ramesh Powar who is almost certain to figure in the playing eleven along with Harbhajan Singh.
The young Suresh Raina has been left out of the 12 short-listed for the match with Haryana all-rounder Joginder Sharma taking his place for the day-night encounter at the Barabati Stadium. It could then be a toss-up between S Sreesanth and Sharma for a place in the final eleven for a game in which a victory would give India an unbeatable 2-0 lead. Skipper Rahul Dravid justified exclusion of Raina while stating that the final combination would be decided after having a look at the pitch tomorrow.
"We have decided on the 12 after looking at the condition and opted for the extra spinner," Dravid said. "We decided to give him (Raina) a break as we want to play the extra spinner and extra bowler. It is more vital for us in this condition." The Indians finally arrested their sequence of defeats in ODIs in the opening tie of the four-match series in Nagpur, which would be remembered for Sourav Ganguly's remarkable comeback to the shorter version of the game. (Agencies)
