|
 The newly-laid pitch at the Keenan Stadium here has attracted a lot of attention ahead of the India-West Indies series opening one-day match tomorrow with both the captains not looking very satisfied with it. West Indian skipper Carl Hooper was visibly displeased with the track, saying it looked “very funny”.
“The wicket is very dry with a surprising amount of cracks. I don’t want to say it’s the worst, but I must say that it certainly looks very funny," Hooper said. Ganguly also had a similar opinion and said he had asked the groundsmen to work on the pitch. “It has a lot of cracks. It’s not that bad but we have asked the groundsmen to do some good rolling," he said.
However, buoyed by his side’s much improved performance in the third Test at Kolkata, Hooper said the West Indies would prove to be a lot tougher opponent in the one-day series. “One-dayers are a different ball game. But I hope we can carry on from where we left off at the Eden Gardens."
The 36-year-old captain recalled that West Indies had given a tough fight to the Indians in the one-day series at home earlier this year. India had emerged a 2-1 victor with two of the five matches being washed out due to rains. “That series was very close. I don’t think this series is going to be any different. We will have a good series," Hooper said.
Hooper was expecting a lot from batsman Ricardo Powell, who has been flown in from West Indies as one of the three changes in the side for the one-day series. “He is a very talented batsman. He is also a brilliant fielder and a handy off-spinner. I hope he can prove himself." The skipper said West Indies would need more all-rounders like Powell in the country’s World Cup campaign in South Africa. “There (in South Africa) bits and pieces players will not succeed. So, we have to go for genuine all-rounders."
Hooper said West Indies would announce their final eleven tomorrow and left-arm seamer Pedro Collins was available for selection after recovering from injury. He said he would like to bat if he won the toss tomorrow. |
