Gordon Greenidge says Sehwag will fire

West Indies batting great Gordon Greenidge expects some Sehwag fireworks at the World Cup

West Indies batting great Gordon Greenidge expects some Sehwag fireworks at the World Cup

For someone who has experienced ultimate glory in two of the three World Cups he played in, Gordon Greenidge is in good position to talk about realistic chances of teams participating in the 2011 World Cup.

India ' favourites, Australia ' never rule them out, South Africa ' playing good cricket, West Indies ' will hopefully show intent. That's how Greenidge takes stock. He was in Mumbai to receive his World Cup 1979 honour at the Ceat awards on Friday. MiD DAY spent close to an hour with the 59-year-old West Indian batting great in his Taj Colaba hotel room on Saturday to pick his brains.

What do you make of India being favourites for this World Cup?
Of course India should be favourites. Once all players are fit, they should have a good chance. Bowling is an important aspect too, but they have very capable batsmen that can get the job done.

Consistency is another important point. If you are going to lose a match or two, you have to experience it earlier in the tournament. Sometimes, a loss is not all that detrimental to the end result. It makes you refocus on the job at hand. If you have continuous success, you may just start to wonder, 'when's the loss going to come?'

Other teams:
South Africa have been playing good cricket as well. Don't rule out Australia. They are hard fighters. I am hoping West Indies will show good intent and get to the point where they post good scores and have competitive, successful matches. It's not a one-horse race by any means, but I think India have the edge. What I wouldn't like to see ' whether it is India or West Indies ' is supporters putting so much pressure that the guys feel a bit inundated. Then, it may become difficult to focus.

We hear you are a great admirer of Sehwag...
Yes! He is very much in the mould of how I liked to play. If he stays fit, you will see some fireworks. He commands a lot of respect (from the bowlers) once he starts well.

It doesn't matter where you bowl to him ' he plays well all around the wicket. India need him to be on song; need him to strike up that form and once he does that, he will help put up a good score. Then, it is up to the fielders and bowlers.

India have a good enough batting side to get the total they wish to bowl at.

How do you analyse the career of Sachin Tendulkar?
(Pauses) He's like a long-lasting battery which goes on and on. It doesn't appear that he has been playing international cricket from the age of 16. The features have changed 'u00a0 he doesn't have that baby face look anymore, but his hunger for success and runs is undiminished.

He is a loved child of India ' as well as M S Dhoni ' but for someone, who has followed his career all these years, I would like to see him fare well in the World Cup. This looks to be his last World Cup and everyone would want to see him go on a high note. It (World Cup) is a challenge for him and I am sure he will meet that challenge head-on.

Losing two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Ria in early May, 1983 was what West Indies' former opener Gordon Greenidge called, "another grey area of my career and life." The tragedy occurred two months before the heartbreaking 1983 World Cup final loss to India.

Ria suffered from a kidney infection and was in a Barbados hospital while Greenidge scored a hundred for the West Indies against India in the Antigua Test.

C G Greenidge retired not out 154 was how the scorecard read. He flew to Barbados after the third day's play to be at Ria's side in hospital. A few days later, she died.

"She was admitted just before I left for the Test match and things got progressively worse. The outcome was grave. Ria was an old soul. She could carry out a conversation with grown-ups and you wouldn't believe a two-and-a-half-year-old girl could do that," Greenidge told MiD DAY on Saturday.

The next time he played a Test ufffd against India at Kanpur ufffd he scored 194. "Maybe, Ria was trying to tell me something," he said. "When you reach a situation like that, you either labour over it or try and pick up the pieces as soon as possible. If you don't do the latter, the situation will get the better of you."

With regards to the World Cup final, Greenidge explained that there was no consistency when it came to chasing down India's seemingly paltry score of 183 on June 25, 1983. "Every time a new batsman came in, the other batsman got out. There was no sign of building an innings. A hundred and eighty three doesn't look too many, but when you lose wickets with only 50-60 on the board, the fielding side will have its confidence up."

Not surprised
He was not surprised at India's 1983 success. "They beat us earlier in the tournament, so it wasn't as if they hadn't tasted success (India's win at Old Trafford was West Indies' first loss in a World Cup match). They knew how to win. Players like Kapil Dev and Mohinder Amarnath were real fighters. They fought and fought well," said Greenidge.

While talking about the changes in the game, he said that he was not sure whether teams visit each other's
dressing rooms after a day's play.

"The battle was on the field of play ufffd not in the dressing rooms. After the battle, you were human again and that fierce warrior took over when you got on the field the next day," he said, which prompted me to ask whether he entered the Indian dressing room after the World Cup loss. "I had to go there and find Balwinder Singh Sandhu (who clean bowled him with an inswinger for one). My hands were going to be around his neck," he said.

On a serious note, he said he couldn't recollect everything that happened that day, but he wouldn't have been reluctant to enter the Indian dressing room to offer his congratulations.