Sourav-Robin to open; Sreesanth, Gambhir, Raina, Powar left out

Vadodara, Jan 30 (UNI) India today left out Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Ramesh Powar and S Sreesanth from the 16 named for tomorrow's fourth and final one-day international against West Indies at the IPCL ground here.

Talking to reporters on the eve of the match here, the India captain also ruled out bringing back Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly to open the innings, stating ''Robin Uthappa and Sourav Ganguly will open''.

Dravid said he was looking forward to seal the series against the West Indies with a 3-1 margin. ''It will be great to win the series against the West Indies who are a very good and dangerous team in the World Cup. They have a good balance and fine all-rounders. They will be tough competitors''.

Dravid also asked the Indian fans and media to be more patient with the younger players rather than judge them hastily and pointed out the example of West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels who was persisted with despite a string of failures before he played a match-winning innings at Chennai.

Talking about the positives from the present series, Dravid said there have been a few good performances from young players, the return of Anil Kumble and the bowling of Ajit Agarkar and Zaheer Khan.

On Irfan Pathan's recall to the team after his departure from South Africa before the end of the Test series there, Dravid opted for the wait-and-watch policy.

''The proof of the pudding is in the eating. We will know when he goes out there and plays tomorrow. Him bowling and performing well is crucial to the balance of the team,'' he said.

Dravid also sounded happy with the progress made by speedster Munaf Patel, who was called here specically to bowl at the nets.

''It was good to see him bowling and it was very heartening,'' he said.

Dravid stated that the poor run of form for Sachin Tendulkar in the first two ODIs before his half-century at Chennai was never a cause for concern for the team.

''It was never a cause of concern,'' he said to a pointed query on the matter.

He also described West Indies captain Brian Lara as one of the best batsmen of his generation who was always a treat to watch in full flow.

''Lara is a fantastic cricketer, one of the best batsmen of my generation. Watching him in full flow, but not necessarily against us, has been one of the great joys in cricket,'' he said.

UNI