When India take on England in the opening match of the Sharjah cricket tournament, it will come as a surprise not to see Sachin Tendulkar opening the innings. Sachin is one of the best two batsmen in the world -- with Bian Lara -- an immensely gifted and sensible young man. He has a preference to open but I find it extraordinary that the Indian selectors withheld announcing him as captain until they could bring pressure to bear on him to bat down the order at No 4. The captaincy appears to have been held back as a bargaining chip so that the selectors could get their way. A directive to the captain as to where he should bat opens up the the possibility of the selectors not only picking the team but announcing the batting order for everyone. If that happens the selectors might as well take over the captaincy itself and Sachin will be free of all the meddling. Fortunately, he is such a well-balanced mature individual that he diplomatically compromised -- for NOW.

The team is strengthened with the return of Srinath and Prasad. The batsmen are playing well but my main concern would be the lack of cricket for Jadeja. He is such a key player in one-day competitions. He bats when the team is in trouble or has to score quick runs in the last few overs. For three Tests -- nearly four weeks -- he hasn't batted in a match. Doing a 12th man's job and batting in the nets is no substitute for match play. He'll need a bit of luck early on but the team is buoyant and full of positive vibes.

Don't be misled by the new-look England team with unfamiliar names. They are a far better one-day unit than their performances in the Test arena.

The England selectors have started a new policy along the Australian lines of naming two separate squads of players, for Tests and one-day internationals. This team is full of youthful vitality very definitely with the 1999 World Cup in mind. Out went captain Atherton and familiar names like Crawley, Nasser Hussain, Caddick and Tufnell who are not the best one-day players. In come lots of dual purpose all-rounders.

It may look strange but there will be depth in batting and variation and alternatives in bowling for the captain and an array of batsmen not at all frightened of big name opposition bowlers who will give the ball a good thump. New captain Adam Hollioake smiles and enjoys his cricket but underneath he is a shrewd, tough `cookie' under pressure.

Captain of Surrey winners of Benson and Hedges Cup this year he is inventive, mentally strong and a good middle-order batsman and an excellent medium pacer with a selection of slower balls with great change of pace. His younger brother Ben is big, raw, uninhibited and belts the ball around. Familiar top batsmen Stewart, Thorpe and the return of Hick will add talented experience and they will be a good team who will get better up to the World Cup.

West Indies are a poor team who rely too much on Lara, Hooper and Chanderpaul. They have an ageing fast bowler in Walsh. They have no quality spinners, only Hooper to do a fill-in job. The team has no quality all-rounder because they are still using the once-explosive Simmons as their utility man.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.