Vadodara, Jan 30: Indian skipper Rahul Dravid today virtually named Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh as the two spinners certain to make the World Cup squad and said off-spinner Ramesh Powar was competing for a spot with one of the pace bowlers. "It's good to see Anil Kumble back in action and his bowling together with Harbhajan Singh is crucial in the World Cup," Dravid said on the eve of India's fourth and final one-day international against the West Indies.
"In them, we have got two world class spinners to take care of even power play situations in the first 20 overs when most teams prefer to use pace bowlers. It (Kumble and Harbhajan bowling in power play situations) gives us an option, to play an extra batsman. It's an added incentive, a bonus for us," the captain said. Dravid, however, said Powar was not ruled out for the World Cup, and the Mumbai off-spinner was in fact fighting for a spot in the team with one of the medium pacers and not the two senior spinners.
"I am not ruling out anyone and Ramesh has done a very good job in the series. He's not competing for a place with two of the greatest slow bowlers, but with one of the seamers," said Dravid. "We have come close to choosing the squad of 15 from 17 or 18 players. We are pretty close to where we want to be. We want players who can adapt to different conditions and wickets and we are getting these kinds of players," Dravid added.
The Bangalore batsman stressed he was looking forward to sealing the series against the West Indies with a 3-1 margin and said Robin Uthappa and Sourav Ganguly, who was rested for the previous match at Chennai, would open the innings tomorrow. "Robin and Sourav will open the innings. We have left out Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Ramesh Powar and S Sreesanth from the 16 named for tomorrow's game," he said. He described West Indies captain Brian Lara as one of the best batsmen of his generation who was always a treat to watch in full flow. "Lara is a fantastic cricketer, one of the best batsmen of my generation. Watching him in full flow, but not necessarily against us, has been one of the great joys in cricket," he said. (Agencies)
