West Indies and India are prepared for the first of four one-day internationals, in Jamaica, after extremely contrasting World Twenty20 campaigns in England. India entered the tournament as one of the favourites but failed very badly, losing all their matches in the Super Eights stage. As a result of their second-round elimination, India reached the Caribbean even before their hosts, who exceeded expectations by qualifying for the semi-finals, where they lost to Sri Lanka.

For India, a team shaken by defeat, injury and fatigue, this series is the last before a long break until the Champions Trophy in September. They will do well to focus on the task at hand, rather than think about the lengthy rest their tired bodies deserve.

MS Dhoni during practice session at Sabina Park in Jamaica

India look weakened as they are without Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina and Zaheer Khan, four key players either injured or resting because of their hectic schedule in recent months. Their unavailability, though, opens up rare opportunities for players on the fringes of the national squad such as Dinesh Karthik, S Badrinath and M Vijay because the Indian one-day side has been a settled unit for a while now. It also gives others, such as Ashish Nehra, a new lease of life for few would have expected him to return after four years on the sidelines.

In West Indies side, the selectors have left out Lendl Simmons from the squad for the first two games. There are other twists in the team with Darren Sammy omitted, Runako Morton and Narsingh Deonarine recalled, and the uncapped Darren Bravo brought in.

Teams:

West Indies: CH Gayle, LS Baker, SJ Benn, DE Bernard, DJ Bravo, DM Bravo, S Chanderpaul, N Deonarine, RS Morton, D Ramdin, R Rampaul, RR Sarwan, JE Taylor

India: MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, S Badrinath, G Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, RA Jadeja, KD Karthik, P Kumar, AM Nayar, A Nehra, PP Ojha, YK Pathan, I Sharma, RG Sharma, RP Singh, M Vijay

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After Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan, Suresh Raina was not considered for the West Indies tour because of a thumb injury and Irfan Pathan was left out of the squad announced by BCCI Secretary N Srinivasan.

Ashish Nehra made a comeback after four years as national selectors on Wednesday announced a 16-member squad for the ODI series beginning June 26.

Apart from Delhi pacer Nehra, Tamil Nadu batsmen Murali Vijay and S Badrinath were also included in the squad for the four-match series for which the Indian team will directly fly from London tomorrow.

Mumbai all rounder Abhishek Nayar was the lone new face in the squad which will be captain by Mahendra Singh Dhoni and will have Yuvraj Singh as his deputy.

Virender Sehwag, who pulled out of the Twenty20 World Cup because of a shoulder injury, was not considered for selection.

Srinivasan said that Raina was not considered for selection as he had sustained a hairline fracture on his thumb. He has been advised two weeks’ rest.

Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt), Yuvraj Singh (vice-captain), Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Yusuf Pathan, Murali Vijay, S Badrinath, RP Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Kartik.

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As their semi-final hopes went up in smoke, a flustered Mumbai Indians captain Sachin Tendulkar today held his batsmen responsible for the debacle as well as the inability to handle crunch situations.

He admitted his team lost the “crunch moments” which effectively came to an end when they were beaten by Chennai Super Kings at St George’s Park on Saturday.

Mumbai suffered a seven-wicket defeat against Chennai Super Kings which ended all their hopes to make the semi-final. With only one match left, against the table toppers Delhi Daredevils, they are stuck in seventh place.

“Throughout the tournament we lost the crunch moments,” said Tendulkar. “In the first match against Chennai everything clicked. But then our match against the Rajasthan Royals was washed out and we then had a break of seven days and we lost our momentum.”

Hayden made 60 not out off 57 balls, pacing his innings superbly as Chennai chased down a moderate Mumbai total of 147-5, winning with five balls to spare.

Chennai entrenched themselves in second place in the eight-team competition.

JP Duminy was mainly responsible for Mumbai reaching their total. The South African left-hander made 62, his fifth half-century of the tournament, off 54 balls.

It was a familiar tale for Mumbai, with Duminy holding the innings together after the team’s stars, Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar, were dismissed.

Jayasuriya threatened to play a major innings, hitting 30 off 17 balls, before top-edging a catch to point. Tendulkar made 11 before he was caught at deep mid-wicket.

Duminy and Abhishek Nayar (33 not out) put on 65 for the fourth wicket before Duminy was run out, backing up too far, in the final over.

Hayden was unusually cautious at the start of Chennai’s innings. At the mid-innings break he had scored only 15 off 28 balls in a total of 56-2.

Chennai looked in trouble when Subramaniam Badrinath was out in the 11th over but Hayden, partnered by Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, lifted his scoring rate as Chennai won comfortably in the end.

Matthew Hayden and MS Dhoni after winning

Hayden reached his fifth half-century of the campaign with a huge six off Harbhajan Singh which sailed out of the ground beyond mid-wicket.

The Super Kings Captain Dhoni wasn’t too satisfied despite the victory that ensured them a semi-final berth.

“We are committing the same mistakes in fielding. We are committing them in each and every game. If we don’t get it right in the knock-out stage, we would be in for trouble,” the India skipper warned.

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