India hoping for a clean sweep

CHENNAI - The Indian team is determined to wrap up the One-day Internaional series 5-0 against New Zealand, though a couple of changes forced by niggles to some players can be expected in the final match of the series here Friday.

According to the teams bowling consultant Eric Simmons, the Indian camp is not keen on experimenting with the side that won the previous game in Bangalore for a 4-0 lead, but with a couple of players carrying niggles, there could yet be changes in the playing eleven.

We will pick the best team we can. It is not that we are experimenting. I think we are not experimenting with the team as the one that played in the last game was a balanced side,” he said.

Tomorrow (Friday) is the final and certain players may not play because you got niggles. We could have played Munaf Patel if the Bangalore game was the final, but given the situation, it was a good decision in not having played him and the same will apply for the match tomorrow too. We want to win the series five nil, Simmons said.

Looking at some of the positives emerging from the series, Simmons singled out off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and the big-hitting Yusuf Pathan whose century in Bangalore proved to be a revelation from Indias point of view.

Ashwin has been very encouraging and we talked about the length and the pace he bowls. It is very useful, particularly for us as we need a bowler who bowls well during power plays.”

It is important for any captain to have options. Obviously, Ashwins ability to have some different variations in his bowling is the key factor in the slog overs. I think he is moving forward with each performance, Simmons said.

On Yusuf Pathan, he said: Yusuf Pathan played one of the incredible one-day innings that I have seen. Lot of people talk about Yusufs power, but what excited me more was what he did in between the boundary shots. That was something added to his repertoire that to me does augur well for him as a number seven.”

I think when the team is selected, a number of guys can play that role and the quality of top six needed to run the scores. Yusuf Pathan has enormous favour in selection for the World Cup. Players are putting their hands up same as the bowlers have. It is very exciting for coaches and selectors, Simmons observed.

He said that the lack of pace in the Indian seam attack was not something he was unduly concerned about, but rather, it was the strategy besides skills that mattered most.

I think what we have proved is that we select bowlers for each strategy on what he can and cannot. We make sure that strategies are around for each of our bowler and considering the conditions in India, pace is not the most important thing.”

I do think that pace and speed are not important factors and could sometimes be a liability. The skill levels of the bowlers will be the key thing in picking them for the World Cup, he said.

Simmons asserted that the team talks a lot about the bowling in the death overs that has often been a cause for concern in view of the runs that leaked towards the end of the innings, as it did in Bangalore when the Kiwis went on a rampage.

Certainly we talk about it (bowling in death overs) a lot. It is something we have to work on all the time to get it right. Cricket has become a tough game for the bowlers in the death overs particularly when you play team like New Zealand as they have batters till number ten and they kill a boundary easily. It is surely going to be a major focus for the World Cup, he said