Hooper Finds ODI Wicket 'Very Funny'

The newly relaid pitch at the Keenan Stadium has attracted a lot of attention ahead of the India- West Indies series opening ODI match tomorrow (tonight, local time) with both captains not looking very satisfied with it.

West Indian skipper, Carl Hooper, was visibly displeased with the track, saying it looked very funny. "The wicket is very dry with a surprising amount of cracks. I don't want to say it's the worst, but I must say that it certainly looks very funny," Hooper said.

Ganguly also had a similar opinion and said he had asked the groundsmen to work on the pitch. "It has a lot of cracks. It's not that bad but we have asked the groundsmen to do some good rolling," he said.

However, buoyed by his side's much improved performance in the third Test in Kolkata, Hooper said West Indies would prove to be a lot tougher opponent in the one-day series.

"One-dayers are a different ball game. But I hope we can carry on from where we left at the Eden Gardens."

The 36-year-old captain recalled that West Indies had given a tough fight to the Indians in the one-day series at home earlier this year. India had emerged a 2-1 victor with two of the five matches being washed out due to rains.

"That series was very close. I don't think this series is going to be any different. We will have a good series," Hooper said.

* Culled from newswire reports.