Ganguly likely to miss warm-up match

Sourav Ganguly is likely to miss India's warm-up match against West Indies after injuring his ankle at net practice the day before.

The team management may not wish to take a risk and play a half-fit Ganguly when India is scheduled to play its first match of World Cup - against Bangladesh in Trinidad - in less than ten days time.

India play West Indies in their second warm-up match today at the Trelawny Stadium in Jamaica.

Meanwhile India's other opener, Virender Sehwag, has said that the backing he received from Rahul Dravid to be included in the World Cup squad was a huge morale booster and he would like to repay the captain's faith in him by scoring plenty of runs in the tournament.

"I now want to justify the faith in me and live up to the expectations," Sehwag was reported as saying in AFP. "I was confident of staging a comeback and the time I spent away from international cricket helped me get my focus back."

Earlier Dilip Vengsarkar, the chairman of selectors, had said that Sehwag had been selected on Dravid's insistence. "When I was leading India, I never got the team I wanted and I didn't want Rahul to go through the same," Vengsarkar had said. "He insisted on having Sehwag and that made the difference."

Sehwag was included despite scoring just 273 runs in 15 one-day games, including an unimpressive 19 off 23 balls against Sri Lanka a day before the squad was picked on February 12.

However he appeared to regain form with an aggressive 46 in the final match against Sri Lanka five days later. "I'm quite happy with my form now. It's getting better and better with every session in the nets. I want to stay longer at the crease."