A new season dawns for India

After the false start in Sri Lanka, India's season should finally get underway in the soothing surroundings of the Kinrara Oval on Thursday afternoon. A decent crowd, consisting mainly of expatriate Indians, is expected to watch the game, though anything would be an improvement on the few dozen kids and handful of others that witnessed a gripping contest between Australia and West Indies.

For India, it's imperative that they start the season in the right fashion. Two years ago, they never really got going at the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka, and the rest of the season followed that same mediocre path. Last year, though they lost a tri-series in Zimbabwe, thumping wins at home against Sri Lanka restored the morale and set the team up for an outstanding season, at least in the limited overs form of the game. With the World Cup looming, and a dress rehearsal in the shape of the Champions Trophy before that, a slow start cannot be countenanced, even if the team management says that they're treating these games as preparation for the bigger events ahead.

After the lemming act against Australia yesterday, Brian Lara spoke of how important it was to maintain his team's psychological hold over India. He was of course referring to the recent series in the Caribbean, when West Indies overcame a loss in the opening match to sweep the remaining four games. His counterpart, Rahul Dravid, scoffs at any talk of psychological advantage, but Lara's words may yet serve to gee up the Indians when they step on to the park tomorrow.

What sort of combination they play is open to question. If the evening net session was any indicator, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid may well open, as they did in Colombo (for 22 balls anyway). Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virender Sehwag also batted a fair while, and there was a good stint too for Suresh Raina, who may yet edge out Dinesh Mongia's allround talents as the team seeks a replacement for the indisposed Yuvraj Singh.

There are options on the bowling side too. There wasn't enough sharp turn yesterday to justify playing two slow bowlers, and that means Ramesh Powar could well miss out. In any case, India have enough back-up for Harbhajan Singh, with Sehwag and Tendulkar both capable of going through a few tidy overs.

The pace complement will be just as keenly watched. Ajit Agarkar and Irfan Pathan are certain to play, and it will be a toss-up between Sreesanth, Rudra Pratap Singh and Munaf Patel for the third seamer's lot if the team decides to reinforce the batting by including Mongia. On a pitch that gave the seamers enough encouragement on Tuesday, the conservative option is likely to prevail, and Munaf should get the nod given that Sreesanth is not in the frame for the Champions Trophy.

West Indies may yet opt for the same side that competed so well with Australia for three-fourths of the match. The bowlers all impressed in patches, though there may still be a place for the accuracy of Corey Collymore, always a worthwhile option against Indian batsmen who can be statuesque against the moving ball. For the batsmen, it's a question of getting the attitude right and forgetting what happened against Australia. Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Chris Gayle showed what was possible if you see off the new ball's shiny coat, though batsmen on both sides would do well to remember that some swallows aren't seen on every day of summer.

India (likely): 1 Sachin Tendulkar, 2 Rahul Dravid (capt), 3 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), 4 Virender Sehwag, 5 Mohammad Kaif, 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Dinesh Mongia, 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 Ajit Agarkar, 10 Harbhajan Singh, 11 Munaf Patel.

West Indies (likely): 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Brian Lara (capt), 5 Dwayne Bravo, 6 Wavell Hinds, 7 Dwayne Smith, 8 Carlton Baugh, 9 Ian Bradshaw, 10 Jerome Taylor, 11 Corey Collymore.