India seem to have a problem of plenty ahead of the last league encounter of the triangular one-day series for the Coca Cola Cup against the West Indies in Harare on Wednesday which is a precursor to the final on July 7.

With both teams having confirmed their places in the final, it would be a battle for psychological one-upmanship.

India's batting and bowling departments are overflowing with in-form players and each of the 15 members of the squad look good enough to make it to the playing eleven. Many youngsters got a chance to prove their talent in this tournament and since all of them grabbed the opportunity with both hands, the team management will have a difficult task at hand in selecting the final composition.

The main spots of contention are the slots for the medium pacers with as many as five seamers vying for the three places and the number three place in the batting order where VVS Laxman is still nursing his finger injury that has kept him out of the last two matches.

On the other hand, West Indies too are buoyed by the victory over Zimbabwe in the previous game having raised their performance by several notches when the chips were down.

West Indies defeated Zimbabwe in a nail-biting finish and that must have given them a lot of confidence as they go into tomorrow's game hoping to maintain that form.

But the formidable Indian bowling line-up would surely give them sleepless nights. The team management is still to come out with its plans for the medium pacers with the final composition of the team likely to be announced only tomorrow morning.

The three automatic choices in the fast bowling department at the start of the tournament - Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar - were put on alert following the impressive performances by Debasish Mohanty and Harvinder Singh in the last game.

Mohanty and Harvinder, playing their first international games of the tour, made the most of the opportunity provided to them and returned figures of 3-18 and 2-25 respectively. They bowled a probing line and troubled the batsmen throughout their spell.

It will be difficult to keep either of them out of the game tomorrow and that could mean bad news for Agarkar or Zaheer or both. Zaheer, who has bowled consistently well on this tour, also claimed two wickets in the last game conceding 27 runs and it would really be unfortunate if he fails to find a place in the final eleven.

There could also be the unexpected move of including four seamers in the side and that would mean keeping off-spinner Harbhajan Singh out. Though Harbhajan has not been quite as successful on this tour as against the Australians in the home series, he has been impressive. With the West Indies batsmen looking uncomfortable even against modest spinners like Grant Flower and Alistair Campbell, keeping Harbhajan out may not be a very good option.

In the batting department, Ganguly is slowly looking to inch back to his elegant self and that would certainly cheer up the Indian side. After his painstakingly compiled 85 against Zimbabwe, the Indian captain looked a lot better with his timing and shot selection in the last game against West Indies before he was unfortunate to be given out.

With Laxman still having a bandage around his index finger which he injured in the first game against Zimbabwe, Dinesh Mongia once looks set to come in at No 3. Mongia has looked good in this tournament and should he play tomorrow, he would also be almost a certainty for the final as Laxman would deem to have missed a lot of action in the last couple of weeks.

While Hemang Badani is sure of a place in the final line-up, the inclusion of all-rounder Reetinder Singh Sodhi is not clear. The Punjab youngster is an effective medium-pacer, apart from being a middle-order batsman, and a brilliant fielder.

For West Indies, openers Darren Ganga and Chris Gayle have already notched up 100-run and a near 100-run partnerships and the team would be looking up to them to give another sound start tomorrow. Shivnaraine Chanderpaul has failed to live up to his reputation in this tournament and, along with captain Carl Hooper, is due for a big score.

Wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs and Marlon Samuels have looked good and Wavell Hinds has shown flashes of his immense talent but the West Indies would need all of them to fire tomorrow as also their pacemen.

The tall Cameroon Cuffy has been the pick of bowlers while both Mervyn Dillon and Reon King have struggled to maintain good line and length. New York based leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo has been impressive with his well-directed, sharply turning leg-breaks.

The teams (from):

India: Saurav Ganguly (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Dinesh Mongia, VVS Laxman, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Virendra Sehwag, Samir Dighe, Hemang Badani, Harvinder Singh, Debasish Mohanty, Ajit Agarkar, Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh.

West Indies: Carl Hooper (captain), Chris Gayle, Darren Ganga, Wavell Hinds, Shivnaraine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Ridley Jacobs, Cameroon Cuffy, Reon King, Mervyn Dillon, Corey Collymore and Mahendra Nagamootoo.

Umpires: Kevin Barbour and Graham Evans.

© PTI