Former West Indies captain and current team manager Clive Lloyd (right) gestures as Marlon Samuels looks on during a practice session in Montego Bay before the team's warm-up match against India today. - Reuters photos

Tony Becca, Contributing Editor

FALMOUTH, Trelawny:

THE WEST Indies and India round off the World Cup warm-up matches at the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium today and, unlike the previous three matches, a fair-size crowd, probably even a good one, is expected to be on hand to watch and hopefully to applaud the action.

One of the reasons for such an expectation is that with Brian Lara on one side and with Sachin Tendulkar on the other, the two greatest batsmen of recent times will be in action. And like Tendulkar on Tuesday, they are expected to demonstrate that they are in good form.

Another reason is that with Chris Gayle on one side and with Virender Sehwag and Mahendra Singh Dhoni on the other, three of the hardest hitters in the game will be on show; and still another reason is that with Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Marlon Samuels also on one side and with Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh also on the other side, the batting on both sides is numbered among the best and most exciting in the world.

Reasons

There are, however, also two other reasons, an there is not one in the West Indies 15, with leg-spinner Anil Kumble and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh in India's squad, one is the opportunity to see, once again for some, probably the first time for others, at least one, and probably two, of the world's best spin bowlers in action.

The other reason, however, is probably the biggest of all.

Although in the grander scheme of things it does not matter, even though today's encounter is only a warm-up match, or as some prefer to call it, a practice match, neither side can afford to lose. Not with the World Cup just a few days away, not with the results of the matches between the two sides in recent times and not with the need, or rather the desire, to go into it on a high and bubbling with confidence.

Up to 11 months or so ago, before they visited the West Indies last year, India, way above the West Indies in the rankings, were riding high only to lose the five-match series 4-1 after taking a 1-0 lead by winning the first match. And then, after sharing the two matches in the triangular series in Malaysia, the West Indies, on the way to the final, whipped them in their own backyard in the one match they played in the ICC Champions Trophy.

Standings

Recently, however, the West Indies went to India, the two teams met in a four-match contest, India crushed the visitors 3-1, and with 5,243 points and a rating of 109 are number five on the list - three places above the West Indies, who, with 3,956 points and a rating of 101, are 1,287 points and eight rating points behind India in position number eight.

According to Bet 365, however, the English betting company which had India and Sri Lanka at 7-1 to win and the West Indies and England at 15-2 a few weeks ago, the odds yesterday showed the West Indies, behind Australia at 9-4, South Africa at 9-2 and Sri Lanka at 13-2, and in front of India and New Zealand at 15-2, as fourth favourites at7-1.

As far as which team will win the World Cup is concerned, the result of today's match may not matter to the West Indies - winners in 1975 and in 1979, or to India the team that defeated the West Indies in the 1983 final.

Following the recent results between the two teams, however, based on the fact that both teams are numbered among the favourites and the possibility that they could contest one of the semi-finals or even the final, it could, as far as confidence is concerned, be very important to both sides.