Chennai, March 20: The final ODI of the group stage of the 2011 ICC World Cup gets underway between India and West Indies at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai today. Both teamsare through to the quarter-final stage of the competition. The result of this game will determine the two sides’ competitors from Group A in the quarter-finals. India, depending upon whether they win or lose, could end up drawing either Sri Lanka or Australia. West Indies, similarly, may end up playing either one of Pakistan or Australia.
Speaking on the wicket Ravi Shastri opined, “This is the same wicket as the one used for the England versus South Africa game. But it is a better track than that one. It has a whitish look to it which means it has had plenty of rolling. It is a bat first wicket with a lot of bounce in it.”
India captain MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat first. India have made two changes to their squad bringing in Suresh Raina for Virender Sehwag and R Ashwin for Ashish Nehra. West Indies also have made a couple of changes, brining in Kirk Edwards for Chris Gayle and Ravi Rampaul in place of Kemar Roach.
Captain speak
MS Dhoni (India)
On the wicket: “I don’t think it will change much. It will play well in the second innings as well.”
Darren Sammy (West Indies)
On the team: “We have a lot of potential match winners. The key is to be aware of our strengths and execute properly.”
Playing XIs
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c & wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, R Ashwin and Munaf Patel.
West Indies: Darren Sammy (c), Devon Smith, Kirk Edwards, Darren Bravo, Devon Thomas (wk), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Sulieman Benn, Ravi Rampaul and Devendra Bishoo.
