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A day after being battered by the Aussies, Team India decided not to train on Saturday, looking to recover from the mental trauma. A hard round of team-talk was followed by brainstorming over how they played on Friday and the plans for Sunday's tie against the West Indies.The knockout battle has come earlier than expected, as both India and the hosts come into the game ambushed. But whichever way the match goes, the tournament is set to lose quite a bit of glamour on Sunday as the sentimental favourites play the hosts for a step towards the last four.India should not be too perturbed with the West Indies bowling. Though Jerome Taylor and Kemar Roach are genuine pace bowlers, and Dwayne Bravo and Ravi Rampaul have the potential to hit the deck, their bowling lacks the discipline and the bite to worry Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men.While Taylor is rusty after a long lay-off, Roach is erratic in the powerplays, and surprisingly India look a better fielding unit than the opposition.Nevertheless, it's tempting for Chris Gayle to take the short-ball route and give it a Caribbean tweak. After facing a barrage of fast and furious bouncers against Australia, India might have to face the slow bouncers that many West Indian bowlers have mastered well. Bravo, Roach, Rampaul and Kieron Pollard employed it usefully against Sri Lanka, too, but missed chances on the field to come out triumphant.Struggling to get goingIndia's problems, besides lack of resources upfront both with bat and ball, lie with a set of players who have failed in their primary duties. Yusuf Pathan, for one, might not get any delivery pitched up for the rest of his Twenty20 career, while Ravindra Jadeja's ability at batting lower down the order and clearing the ropes against quality attack is highly suspect.As batsmen, both Yusuf and Jadeja have not been scoring at all in the lower order — on a day when they give away runs with the ball as well, the team's balance wobbles towards lack of specialists doing duty. Opener Gautam Gambhir, who hasn't shown the scores yet, will hold the key to shepherding the Indian innings, which has lacked meat and has so far fed only on flamboyance.Meanwhile, India's extra pace option arrived on Saturday evening but Umesh Yadav might not get to make his India debut against the hosts. Piyush Chawla might come in at the expense of Jadeja in the only change India is likely to make with the team composition, though skipper Dhoni will do good to rearrange the combination and take the conventional route on operating his new-ball bowlers.Both Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra are best with the new ball in hand, looking to shape in and out. More importantly, it allows the clutch of spinners to operate in tandem and suffocate the fickle West Indies batting line-up in the middle overs.Spin still remains India's strength, especially as Gayle at the top and Pollard in the middle has been tentative.It will be a good toss to lose for both Dhoni and Gayle, who will eye the early swing and moisture on the pitch but have been poor chasers under pressure. On paper, both teams have an array of dazzling stroke-players and exciting bowlers and the time has come for these players to justify their billing.
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