All eyes on Sachin Tendulkar in Delhi

Sachin Tendulkar's offer for his 100th international century will be the focus of concentration when India hosts West Indies in the first Test at Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla on Sunday.

Tendulkar has been on the brink of the extraordinary and historic highlight since March when he hit a century in an ICC World Cup win over South Africa.

The 38-year-old has, however, been forced to wait to reach the landmark due to poor form and injury after an unmemorable tour of England when his side failed to win an international match.

Tendulkar failed to bring up three figures in four Tests on the tour before a toe wound forced him home in front of time at the start of the one-day international series.

The 'Little Master' has since healthier and will be fully predictable to complete the feat on home soil against a West Indies team who record a rare away series win in Bangladesh last month.

West Indies coach Ottis Gibson is confident the hysteria around Tendulkar may sidetrack India - who play Test cricket for the first time since being whitewashed 4-0 in England - even though he admits he expect the veteran to reach the mark during the three-match series.

"I feel if there is too much hype, it would be tough for Tendulkar," Gibson said after a practice session at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Friday. "But Tendulkar is a fable and he would get it anyway any time soon."

India will be looking to bounce back from their humbling in England, which saw them lose the number one Test ranking, and have made a number of changes to their squad.

Veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh has been axed with R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha and Rahul Sharma to take over the spin duties.

Zaheer Khan is also not yet fit meaning the hosts will look to the future of their pace bowling with the uncapped Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav selected.

Their inclusions are significant ahead of the winter tour to Australia - when the quicks will be relied upon - and batsman VVS Laxman admits the series will be important as they look to get back to winning ways ahead of that tour.

"It's going to be an important series - especially after the dismal time we had in England," he said. "We want to come back strongly and regain the top position.

"Hopefully, the Test team will start off the season on a winning note so that we will be high on confidence before leaving for Australia."

West Indies coach Gibson believes his side's hopes of backing up their 1-0 series win in Bangladesh will fall on their pacemen.

While the pitches in India are likely to favour the spinners, Gibson - a former West Indies quick - believes his fast men hold the key to success.

"Over the last six to 12 months our fast bowlers, Ravi Rampaul, Fidel Edwards, Kemar Roach and Darren Sammy have done well and won us matches," Gibson said.

"We know that India obviously will be heavy on spin but we believe in the quality of our fast bowlers.

"We believe that we have the quality to back ourselves. We know that the ball doesn't swing very long. You need to have added skills and we pay a lot of attention to that.

"We are skilled enough to reverse it and get wickets as well."

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Wasim Akram: West Indies will struggle in India

Series next to Windies will help India pick the right arrangement for the Australia series, says former Pakistan captain.

Wasim Akram believes the West Indies bowlers would find it very difficult to send away India double at home in the Test matches. Speaking entirely to Mobile ESPN from Karachi on Friday evening, the Sultan of Swing said, "West Indies have won against Bangladesh, but the serious challenge starts now next to the big boys."

The 45-year old stressed out on the need for this series to be used as a launch-pad for the all-important tour to Australia in December. "India can use this series to come up with the right combination and balance. This tour will help them regain the lost confidence after the thrashing in England. The team can perhaps blood in new players who could be used Down Under", said Akram.

Harbhajan Singh's omission from the side has been conventional with complementary emotion from the Indian cricketing fraternity. However, Akram sees no reason why the 'Turbanator' has been left out of the side for the first Test against West Indies.

"I can't appreciate why Harbhajan is out. Players should be chosen in the squad, keeping long-term plans in mind and Bhajji certainly fits the bill. He has been drop after just one bad series in England, which I think is unjust because he is only 31", added Akram.

"Ashwin and Ojha are good no uncertainty, but they should be used to balance Harbhajan. Given his vast experience, India can't do with no Bhajji's class," quip Akram.

While the top five of the Indian batting line-up look solid, the number six spot has been up for grabs in new times. Akram felt the team could do with the healthy contest. "(Virat) Kohli and (Suresh) Raina are gifted, but they need to learn to play the longer format. If Yuvraj is fully fit, he walks in at number six", experiential Akram.

Speaking on the composition of the visitors, Akram felt Chris Gayle's dropping would prove to be very costly for the visitors. "There is clearly a announcement gap and a clash of egos between both parties. It should be solved for the good and Gayle should give priority to his country. West Indies is surely bigger than Chris Gayle," he signed off.

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Hope spot-fixing conviction help cricket in comprehensive run: Waqar

He is dismayed by the conviction of three Pakistan cricketers in the spot-fixing scam but former head coach Waqar Younis hopes it would prove helpful to the game in the long run.

"I hope that the outcome of the trial would prove helpful to cricket in the future and also serve as prevention to other players," Waqar said from Dubai.

The former Test captain, who submissive as coach in September after the Zimbabwe tour due to individual and health reasons, said for him the spot-fixing scandal had been one of the darkest chapters of his cricket career.

Waqar was the coach when the disgrace first broke out last September resultant in bans on the concerned three Pakistani players, Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer by the ICC's Anti-corruption court and jail terms by the Southwark Crown Court in London after a criminal trial.

The court hand out a 30-month sentence to Butt, who was Test captain on the England tour, Asif was given a one-year jail term and 19-year-old Aamer was asked to spend six months in a youth confinement and correction centre.

Waqar said for him and Pakistan cricket, the spot-fixing scandal and following developments connected to it had been torture.

"I salute our team which in spite of this dark episode kept on focusing on the game and drama well even though there was so much pressure and spotlight on the team because of the scandal," Waqar recall.

"The scandal I consideration overshadowed the appearance of our team in England as a fighting combination," he added.

Waqar said while he felt sorry for the trial the families of the players have to go throughout but there is no understanding for the jailed offender as they had let the team and nation down.

"I just hope they regret what they have done and improvement themselves. But the episode also shows the ICC and member boards need to much more to fight corrupt elements in the sport."

Waqar said Aamer had bowled one of the three prearranged no-balls during the Lord's Test at the request of Butt.

Waqar said when he asked him about it, it was Butt who spoke out and said he had instructed the pacer to bowl it due to some strategic reasons during the course of the Test.

Waqar said he had knowledgeable the ICC anti-corruption about this when he gave his statement as a witness during the investigation into the matter.

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Pakistan increased security: England cricketers on guard

ANDREW STRAUSS and his England players will be secluded by increased security when they play Pakistan in January.

In the wake up of the Pakistan spot-fixing disgrace, the safety of the England team is to be reassessed.

They play three Tests, four one-day internationals and three Twenty20 matches next to Pakistan in the Arabian Desert in January and February.

The matches are organism played in Dubai and Abu Dhabi since Pakistan is out of bounds for cricket tours due to security concern.

Even though the Emirates are not considered an A-level risk destination, England will be taking no chances following the jailing of three Pakistan cricketers and their manager at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday.

Ex-Pakistan captain Salman Butt was sentence to 30 months, while bowler Mohammed Asif was given 12 months.

Teenage bowler Mohammed Amir was sent to a young offender organization for six months. The trio's agent Mazher Majeed was locked up for two years and eight months.

The players have told how they were threatened by criminal world gangsters and illegal bookmakers who run the betting markets in Asia and the Middle East.

England team safety expert Reg Dickason will put in place the needed measures before the team depart for the tour on January 3.

A team insider said: "We trust Reg's decision totally and will follow any suggestion he makes. But there's no doubt emotion is running high.

"It is extraordinary for players to be sent to prison for their participation in match-rigging."

The England players are still offended that, although they were nothing more than blameless bystanders, they were sucked into the argument that destroyed the home series against Pakistan in 2010.

SunSport exposed on Thursday how Captain Strauss will tell his players not to allow residual anger to turn into personal vendetta when England faces Pakistan.

And Strauss is now calling on the ICC's anti-corruption unit to step up its chase of further cheats.

At a dinner at Lord's on Thursday evening, Strauss described the anti-corruption unit as "paper tigers".

Sir Ronnie Flanagan, head of cricket's dishonesty busters, is under huge force to make sure his team brings more cheats to justice.

England legends Ian Botham and Michael Vaughan are among those who consider more fixers are still playing international cricket.

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