da luck： Harbhajan Singh may have tormented the Australians and continues totrouble the Zimbabweans but West Indies captain Carl Hooper remainsunfazed and feels his team is competent enough to tackle the’turbonator’
16-Jun-2001Harbhajan Singh may have tormented the Australians and continues totrouble the Zimbabweans but West Indies captain Carl Hooper remainsunfazed and feels his team is competent enough to tackle the’turbonator’.”We have seen bits and pieces of Harbhajan and we are confidentagainst him,” said Hooper, who is leading West Indies in thetriangular one-day series involving India and Zimbabwe starting inHarare on June 23.The 15-member West Indies team arrived in Harare on Thursday. Theywill take on Zimbabwe in the first match of the series next Saturday.”We have toured India before and played their spinners.NarendraHirwani who took 16 wickets in his first Test but he struggled to doso well abroad,” said Hooper.”Harbhajan too will realise the conditions abroad can be different. Heis just starting out and he will learn,” said Hooper, himself one ofthe finest players of spin bowling. “Conditions also play a big part.”Harbhajan has earned a tremendous reputation after almost singlehandedly demolishing the Australians in the home series early thisyear and had a record haul of 32 wickets from three Tests.West Indies coach Roger Harper admitted that his team’s fortunes inthe series depended heavily on the performance of Brian Lara but saidthere were some other very capable players in the team too.Lara, who holds the world record of the highest individual Test scoreof 375, has been rather inconsistent in recent times but is stillaveraging in the late 40s.”We do expect him to lead the way,” Harper said. “But there are fiveother batsmen also in the team. He has the reputation of gettingmammoth scores and that’s a big cross to bear. But he is stillaveraging in the 40s and has a decent record. He knows the team wantsbig runs from him and he knows he can provide it,” said Harper.Hooper believed his team stood a good chance in this competition.”Even though we lost the series against South Africa back home, therewere a lot of positives to be had. At the moment, we are looking togauge where are we in world cricket.South Africa and Australia are perhaps the two best sides in theworld. We want to see if we are in the same bracket as India, Pakistanand England. We know India has been on an upswing. They beat Australiaat home. But here the conditions favour fast bowlers and I think wehave the ammunition,” Hooper said but admitted that Curtly Ambrose andCourtney Walsh would be missed. “They were two mighty performers. Butwe have five fast bowlers in the team who are very talented.”Hooper brushed aside suggestions that cricket was yielding space tobaseball and basket ball in the Caribbean islands. “I think that’s anexcuse. Cricket is still the life and soul of the Caribbean islands.The game is well-supported financially.”Harper made a relevant point about why the West Indies is strugglingat the moment. “We need to understand that the mighty cricketers ofthe 70s were already developed when they burst on to the Test team.They had an opportunity to round off their talent, thanks to stints incounty cricket. It isn’t happening at the moment. It will take theseplayers at least two years It is a daunting legacy. It is what we mustaim for but it will take time,” concluded Harper.The West Indies squad includes recalled fast bowler Reon King and alsoGuyanese Mahendra Nagamootoo who has not represented the West Indiessince the ill-fated tour of Australia earlier this year.After the triangular one-day series, West Indies will move to Kenyafor a series of one-day internationals.The squad: Carl Hooper (captain), Ridley Jacobs, Chris Gayle, DarenGanga, Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, RamnareshSarwan, Wavell Hinds, Cameron Cuffy, Mervyn Dillon, Reon King, CoreyCollymore, Kerry Jeremy, Neil McGarrell and Mahendra Nagamootoo.Manager: Ricky Skerritt. Coach: Roger Harper. Trainer: Ronald Rogers.