With two facile wins under their belt ahead of their opening match in the next stage on May 7, possibly against Australia if Michael Clarke’s men beat Bangladesh in their second encounter, Indians appear to be high on confidence but the former champions are well aware that they will be up against a more difficult opposition and even more difficult conditions at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown.
The pitch here is expected to offer more pace and bounce than the surface at the Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia.
After resting the whole day on Monday, the Indian players had an optional practice at the Windward Cricket Club here, located in the south-east parish of Barbados, about 17 miles from the Kensington Oval.
While most of the Indian team members remained closeted at the comforts of their hotel rooms, Gautam Gambhir, who has recovered from a stomach bug that forced him to sit out Sunday’s match against South Africa, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Kaarthick, Yusuf Pathan, centurion in the last match Suresh Raina and Vinay Kumar went through a light training session under the watchful eyes of coach Gary Kirsten.
Gambhir warmed-up to a few throwdowns from Gary Kirsten before facing some faster deliveries from the local bowlers.
Raina, who is likely to be bombarded with the short-picthed stuff, rolled his arm over for a while and then had some light knocking session showing little nerves ahead of the sterner tests.
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