India must play both spinners

When the Indian team walks out to take on Holland at Paarl in their opening encounter of World Cup 2003, the prayers and best wishes of a billion people will be with them.

A good start to the World Cup campaign is what Sourav Ganguly's men would ideally want. Even though Holland are the minnows of world cricket, the match presents India with a chance to reclaim form. After the battering they took in New Zealand, the batsmen would definitely be keen to get a big innings ahead of the crunnch game against Australia.

The Men in Blue find themselves in a tough pool, and with only three teams slated to qualify for the Super Sixes, I would expect India to field a full-strength team on Wednesday. When they finlaise the composition they must keep in mind the fact that they need to get their gameplan correct. As we saw in the opening game, where West Indies shocked South Africa, anything can happen in this World Cup. Even though India need not fear Holland stretching them to the distance, it is important that they hit a purple patch straight away.

Given the nature of tracks seen in this World Cup so far, I am inclined to think that India should play two spinners in the match. The evidence was there to be seen in the fine display put up by the Sri Lankan spinners against New Zealand. Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh are proven bowlers at international level and they will have a huge role to play on these dry tracks as the competition progresses.

It is heartening to notice that a bid has been made to build the morale of the team. The presence of sports psychologist Sandy Gordon should see the team sport a much more mentally tough approach and this certainly is necessary if they are to win the tournament.

I would particularly be interested in how the Indian fielding shapes up in the game against Holland. It is an area that this team has failed to improve upon despite Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif being real livewires.

Before I end, let me mark out the one man whom I think we must look out for. Not that it needs any telling, but after the way in which Brian Lara and Sanath Jayasuriya have set the World Cup alight, Sachin Tendulkar will be all the more driven to join them on the centrestage.