PTI
Montego Bay, Jamaica, May 17: The Indian cricket team had a major injury worry at the start of the West Indies tour with off-spinner Ramesh Powar being rendered unfit for the first one-day internationals and fast bowler Sreesanth too looking a doubtful starter.
Powar twisted his ankle during practice here on Monday while Sreesanth, who was said to have suffered a similar injury in Abu Dhabi, was still not 100 percent fit.
Both the players, along with opener Robin Uthappa, were left out of the opening fixture of the tour, a warm-up one-dayer against a local unit.
Team sources said there were no plans to send Sreesanth back home and that he would still be eligibile to play in the first one-dayer at Jamaica on Thursday.
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Lara Reminds Indians of Difficulties in Caribbean
PTI
Port of Spain, Trinidad: Playing mind games just ahead of the one-day cricket series against India, West Indies captain Brian Lara has said India would be up against hostile conditions during their 55-day Caribbean tour.
"The pitches will be different, the atmosphere will be different, so hopefully all these things will play a part in us getting the advantage," Lara said.
"If we perform as a team we are capable of overhauling them," he was quoted as saying in the 'Jamaican Observer' on Tuesday.
The captain said his team would have an added edge over the visitors by virtue of having just played competitive cricket.
"I think the most important thing is we have been actively playing competitive cricket and that's one of the advantages we have over the Indian team at present, so hopefully we will be able to do ourselves justice," he said.
"They are a very good one-day outfit... They've won both series against Pakistan and England convincingly and must be respected for that, but again they've travelled quite a long way, and we all know how difficult it is in the Caribbean." Lara also said the 5-0 clean sweep of Zimbabwe in the recently concluded one-day series had infused confidence in his team.
We will come back with flying colours: Tendulkar
PTI
Chennai: Sachin Tendulkar is eagerly waiting to join his team members on the exciting tour of the Caribbean and says he has no doubts that the team will come out with flying colours against the West Indies.
The Mumbai batsman, who will miss the five-match one-day series, said he was expecting to be fit in time for the subsequent Test series but did not commit on whether he would be able to make it to the squad.
"That is the reason I am in Chennai, training at the MRF. I always wanted to be there (in the Caribbean). The injury was a bit more complicated than what the doctors and myself thought," Tendulkar said.
"Initially, it was thought it was going to be a shoulder surgery but my tendons were also operated on. The doctor and the phsyio have been quite happy with my progress," he told reporters on the sidelines of a function yesterday where he was signed up as a brand ambassador for GM Reynold pens.
"At this moment, I do not want to say whether I would be going to the West Indies for the Test series. Because there is a fitness test in Mumbai and before that I do not want to say anything. So far, it has been good. We just have to wait and see." Tendulkar said he rated India's chances against the West Indies as very high.
"We won the one-day series in the West Indies last time. The (Test) loss at Barbados was a nightmare. It took me long long time to overcome that. There are certain things which we have to keep aside and move on with cricket.
"But I am much sure that our present team will put up a very good performance. I have no doubt in my mind that we will come back with flying colours," he said.