India opt to bowl against West Indies at Ahmedabad With security concerns looming large, a packed house welcomed India and West Indies to the Sardar Patel (Gujarat) Stadium, Motera in Ahmedabad. Leading 2-1, the West Indies have decided to bring back Carl Hooper in place of Ricardo Powell. The visitors made yet another change when left-arm seamer Pedro Collins replaced Cameron Cuffy. India, for their part, too made a couple of changes with left-arm spinner Murali Kartik getting a golden opportunity to showcase his wares after being drafted into the side in place of Jai P Yadav. Medium-pace bowling all-rounder Sanjay Bangar too gets a look in, replacing Ajit Agarkar. In the afternoon, Sourav Ganguly after winning the toss, had absolutely no hesitation in electing to field. Spurred by the manner in which India set off to chase 301 at Rajkot, the Indian skipper hopes to keep the momentum going. The wicket itself has no grass on it and the red clay soil should make it yet another belter of a track.

High security for Ahmedabad one-dayer Security officials will be on high alert as India and West Indies go into the fourth day-night one-day international on Friday in a series marred by crowd disturbance. Unprecedented security arrangements have been made to prevent rowdy fan behaviour after all three matches so far were disrupted by the crowd throwing objects onto the ground. West Indies captain Carl Hooper, for his part, said his team would focus on the match rather than on the possibility of crowd trouble erupting yet again. "The past is behind us, we are totally focused on the game tomorrow," Hooper told reporters on Thursday. Manager Ricky Skerritt added: "We are trying to remain focused on cricket. Over the last series of incidents, players were threatened with bodily harm and it's in that situation we reacted." The West Indies were led off the field by match referee Mike Procter in the third one-day international between the two sides at Rajkot and refused to return unless they were given assurances of safety by top officials. "If there are instances of threat and risk to our players, which we are not ready to tolerate, then we'll take action. We have come here with an open mind, with a willingness and keenness to play. We will review the situation as it unfolds," Skerritt observed, adding, "In the first two matches, we went back to the field even after repeated troubles. When our players face genuine risks of bodily harm we naturally get concerned. But we don't anticipate problems here (at Ahmedabad)."

Richards defends West Indies' decision at Rajkot West Indies great Viv Richards has defended his team's refusal to return to the field in the third one-day international at Rajkot. In his column in CricInfo, the batting legend, who is currently the chairman of West Indies selectors, wrote, "There were statements issued by the administrators at this venue (Rajkot) that the West Indians overreacted when they refused to return to the field. Such comments by self-appointed pundits are way out of line. What should we have waited for, - a player's head to be busted? Will only the sight of a bleeding player make the administration to take crowd trouble seriously? As far as I am concerned, accusing us of overreaction is merely an attempt by certain officials to defend their turf after failing to provide adequate security." He certainly has a point, what say you?

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