Anthony Foster, Freelance WriterTHE INDIAN cricket team arrived in the island yesterday ahead of their five-match One-Day International series against the West Indies.
The 15-man squad led by captain Rahul Dravid touched down at the Norman Manley International Airport at about 4:00 p.m.
On arrival, captain Rahul Dravid told reporters that they have a lot of respect for the West Indies, but he believes it's time for India to beat the West Indies at home.
"We respect them a lot," Dravid was quick to point out. "I think they've got some very good batsmen. I think they have a very strong batting line-up," he added.
"Any team that has a player of the quality of (Brian) Lara, (Ramnaresh) Sarwan, (Chris) Gayle and (Shivnarine) Chanderpaul, it's going to be a serious batting line-up.
"They've got some very good young fast bowlers as well. They are a very good team and we have been watching their cricket, and we expect and are looking forward to play some good cricket against them," he explained.
Lara has played 13 Test matches against India, scoring 791 runs with one century at 37.66, while he has scored 794 in 31 one-day matches.
BEST PERFORMANCE
Chanderpaul has the best performance against the Indians, scoring 1,280 runs with five centuries at an average of 85.33 in 14 matches; while Gayle in eight matches scored 366 runs and Sarwan 455 in eight matches.
India will play five one-day internationals and four Test matches, starting with the ODIs next Thursday and Saturday at Sabina Park.
The Indians have not won a series in the Caribbean since 1971, but Dravid believes it time for a change.
"We are looking forward to this series ... we know it's a challenge playing in the West Indies, they are a good team and it's always tough to come here and beat the West Indies.
"We are looking forward to it, we are not going to worry about history, we are just going to look at the series as a fresh one and then try and do the best we can," added Dravid, whose team play Jamaica in a practice match next Tuesday at Jarrett Park in MoBay.
Indian team: Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Venugopala Rao, Mahendra Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Ramesh Powar, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Shantakumaran Sreesanth, Rudra Pratap Singh, Munaf Patel and Robin Uthappa.
