Sehwag uncertain for match against West Indies

The Indian captain,however,did not reveal any contingency plans should Sehwag sit out.

Attacking opener Virender Sehwag is a doubtful starter for India’s last group game at the World Cup against West Indies on Sunday,when Ravichandran Ashwin and Suresh Raina are set to step into the team for their first appearances at the tournament.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni told reporters Saturday that Sehwag was struggling with an allergic reaction in his right knee.

“We will take a call (on Sehwag) either in the evening or by morning before the game,” Dhoni said.

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Sehwag is India’s leading runscorer at the tournament with 327 runs at an average of 65.40.

Skipper Dhoni also gave a strong hint that spin bowler Ashwin and left-handed batsman Raina would play against the West Indies in the last group match of the tournament.

“Hopefully at the start of the knockout stages everyone will have played at least one game,” Dhoni said,meaning Ashwin and Raina _ who are yet to appear for India despite calls for their inclusion are set to line up at their home ground at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium.

India’s place in the quarterfinals was confirmed soon after Dhoni addressed reporters,when South Africa beat Bangladesh by 206 runs in Dhaka. That meant South Africa topped the group,and guaranteed India’s and England’s progress. South Africa had already qualified and West Indies can only miss out now if it loses to India on Sunday by a colossal margin.

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Now safely qualified,India has even more reason to try out Ashwin and Raina ahead of the knock-out stages.

Raina could replace Sehwag in the 11,with Gautam Gambhir returning to his preferred role as an opening batsman and Raina moving to the middle order.

Offspinner Ashwin is a logical inclusion for the game on a spin-friendly Chennai pitch,where he will test West Indies’ string of left-handed batsmen.

The West Indian left-handers struggled against England offspinners James Tredwell and Graeme Swann in their loss at Chennai on Thursday,and India could follow suit by matching Ashwin with fellow offspinner Harbhajan Singh.

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The Indians are also coming off a loss in its most recent game,when they threw away a dominant batting position to lose nine wickets for 29 runs in Nagpur against South Africa.

The experienced India batting lineup had learnt its lesson,Dhoni said.

“I don’t think that whatever happened in that game needs to be addressed in a big way,” he said,”but the better sides in the world are the ones who don’t repeat their mistakes in short intervals.

“It is always good that it has happened in the league stages and not the lottery or the knock-out stages. We will take the learnings into the knock-out stages.”