World champions India will count on their young stars to deliver when
they take on fast-improving West Indies in a one-day series starting in
Cuttack on Tuesday.The hosts have rested batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar and skipper
Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the five-match series, picking instead young
batsmen Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane.Kohli scored half-centuries in each innings of the drawn third and final
Test in Mumbai last week that helped India clinch the series 2-0.India, with explosive opener Virender Sehwag as stand-in captain, will
look to extend their excellent run at the Barabati stadium in Cuttack
where they have lost only four of their 14 one-day internationals.Former India skipper Dilip Vengsarkar said he was excited by the
new-look home team. "We now move our focus to the young batsmen in the
team," Vengsarkar wrote in the Times of India."With Sehwag all set to lead India, the one-dayers should provide for
more entertainment, what with the West Indies having gained a lot of
positives from the Test series."The man in the spotlight will be newcomer Ravichandran Ashwin, who
grabbed 22 wickets with his off-spin in his debut Test series and also
scored a century in Mumbai.The West Indies showed much improvement in the last two Tests at Kolkata
and Mumbai, but skipper Darren Sammy wanted his side to be more
consistent in the one-dayers.The tourists scored 463 in their second innings at Kolkata and 590 in
the first innings at Mumbai, with young Darren Bravo smashing centuries
in both matches to announce his arrival on the big stage. "As a team we
are making some strides, but we still need more consistency," said
Sammy."We did some good things earlier this year against Pakistan and India at
home and we beat Bangladesh in Bangladesh last month. We came here and
competed in the Tests against India, but did not capitalise on the key
moments."Hard-hitting all-rounder Kieron Pollard returns to the West Indies squad
where batsman Jason Mohammed and off-spinner Sunil Narine are the new
faces. The remaining matches will be played in Visakhapatnam (December
2), Ahmedabad (Dec 5), Indore (Dec 8) and Chennai (Dec 11).India (from): Virender Sehwag (capt), Gautam Gambhir, Virat
Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Parthiv Patel,
Ravichandran Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Varun
Aaron, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Rahul Sharma.West Indies (from): Darren Sammy (capt), Adrian Barath, Darren
Bravo, Danza Hyatt, Anthony Martin, Jason Mohammed, Sunil Narine, Kieron
Pollard, Kieran Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Andre
Russell, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons
