Team India practiced in the nets in Baroda ahead of the 4th and final one-day
international against West Indies on Wednesday.
The hosts may be leading the four-match series 2-1 but the
middle order collapse from Saturday's Chennai ODI will definitely be cause for
concern.
While many believe that Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly
are India's best option to open at the World Cup, Rahul Dravid
has in the past said that on West Indian wickets, it's the middle overs that
will be crucial in the game.
"Firstly I think all teams would like to have Sachin Tendulkar
in their line up and that's a lot. Secondly he's a player and like all players
he's very much about confidence and I think that innings the other day will
do him a world of good just going and spending time there in the middle,"
said Ian Frazer, Bio Mechanist, Indian Cricket Team.
"So we are looking forward to big things from Sachin.
He is working hard for the World Cup and he knows it's important to India and
to our chances that he does well," he added.
Fitting the pieces
Of course Sachin's place in the batting order will depend a
lot on how effectively man regains his form and fitness.
Yuvraj Singh holds the key in some ways to India's fortune
at the World Cup.
Back in the team after over three months, the 25-year old along
with Irfan Pathan and Munaf Patel will be hoping to strike a rich
vein of form in the next few weeks.
"They are good signs relieved to see them back in the
team. But then again Munaf has a few more sessions, the first one went well
today lets see how it goes," said Ian Frazer, bio mechanist, Indian Cricket
Team, on Munaf and Yuvraj back from injury.
"Yuvraj, I was very impressed with what he did the other
night. I think it's important that Irfan has gone and played Ranji and that
he's been bowling a lot and at the end of the day that's important," he
added.
But fitting the pieces isn't just a function of getting the
balance right between bat and ball, it's also dependant on how effectively players
coming back from injury prove their form and fitness.
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