Tendulkar moves down order

Sachin Tendulkar will bat in the middle-order © Getty Images

India captain Rahul Dravid has revealed that Sachin Tendulkar is likely to bat in the middle order for Sunday’s one-day international against the West Indies in Nagpur.

Tendulkar has opened the batting in 265 of 374 one-day appearances but has been dropped down the order with Sourav Ganguly - back in India’s ODI squad after a year away - and Gautam Gambhir set to open.

The reshuffle comes as Yuvraj Singh continues to struggle with an injury that has left India with a dearth of experienced players further down the order.

“Since Yuvraj’s fitness is uncertain we need some one with experience in the middle order,” said Dravid.

Sourav Ganguly may open

“You will probably see Sachin batting in the middle order [on Sunday].

"The reason really for that is not being sure of Yuvraj’s fitness, and how he will shape up over the next few days. The signs are good, hopefully he will be back.”

The India skipper also hinted that the decision to move Tendulkar will, if successful, provide the Indian selectors with another option come the World Cup in March.

He added: “We see the middle overs of the World Cup being a critical part of the equation and who better than our best batsman to be able to try and play that role for us.

“We also have four openers in this squad so we need to give some opportunities to couple of the other guys, so we have Sourav and Gautam opening on Sunday, and this gives us a chance to try Sachin in the middle overs that we know are going to be very important.”

The Windies head into the best-of-four series in India with a clear psychological edge having triumphed in the majority of the sides’ meetings in the last year.

A ODI series triumph in the Caribbean in May and a one-off meeting in Kuala Lumpur was rounded-off by a Champions Trophy encounter in Ahmedabad.

The tourists won six and lost just two of those meetings, and will fancy their chances when they turn at out Nagpur on Sunday.

The second ODI takes place in Cuttack on Wednesday before a third meeting in Chennai next Saturday.

The series concludes in Vadodara on January 31.