IIndia will be looking to their seam bowlers to give them an extra edge in the forthcoming World Cup in the West Indies. And in Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar and Munaf Patel they have a trio of the finest exponents of the seaming art, providing a decent attack in the One Day arena.

Zaheer's stint on the county grounds of England has done him a lot of good. Learning to bowl well, day after day, has obviously taught him a thing or two. He has developed into a genuine leader of India's bowling attack.

Agarkar, to my mind, has always been a good ODI bowler. He is someone who attacks extremely well, within his known limitations. He builds up a good and varied pace, works out a batsman's weakness, is reasonably accurate early in the innings and almost always generates early wicket-taking opportunities. And at this time, he seems to be in excellent nick, perhaps spurred by the competition for pace-bowling slots in the team.

Munaf, the fastest of the trio, has figured that he needs to be very accurate. Somewhere he has got it ingrained in his head that he has to be like a Glenn McGrath, and not like a Shoaib Akhtar. He does an excellent job of keeping the score under control, and then forcing a mistake from the batsman.

And to think that Sri Sreesanth, with all his energy, enthusiasm and never-say-die spirit, is the fourth bowler. Then there is Irfan Pathan, very promising and at one time our pace hope for the next decade, waiting in the wings. And it makes me say with confidence that indeed, India’s aces are this pace attack.

If coach Greg Chappell, skipper Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and others can find a way to train the five boys to NOT panic against a serious counter-attack (think Adam Gilchrist or Sanath Jayasuriya or Shahid Afridi) and keep bowling intelligently, then we have one area completely covered.

Now for the batting. Yes, we have the biggest names and one would feel that it's the batting that should be our strong point. While I believe it's good, I'm not altogether certain that it's good enough for the World Cup. Let's examine details.

Ideally, we would have Robin Uthappa and Virender Sehwag opening, then Sourav Ganguly, Tendulkar and Dravid filling three, four and five (not necessarily in that order). The key question could be: Can Uthappa face up to and conquer an opposition attack containing the likes of Glenn McGrath, Shaun Pollock, Steve Harmison, Chaminda Vaas or Makhaya Ntini?

Tendulkar might be a good bet, but I think the team will be better served if he comes in at four. Dravid would be the last option to go to the opening slot, but if it comes to that, I believe we would be in serious trouble. Six and seven slots will most likely go to Dinesh Karthick and Mahendra Singh Dhoni followed by the four specialist bowlers.

Unless we have tremendous respect for our five batsmen, I think we will continue to play with four bowlers and six batsmen, plus Dhoni. In case we play 5+5+1, then of course, the sixth batsman (Sehwag or Karthick) will be out.

The wicketkeeper-cum-batsman position is in good hands with Dhoni. He has great temperament as a batsman, and is quite good (though not flawless) as a wicketkeeper. He can certainly slam the bowling around, and is quite mature too. However, I have a question on genuine technique and ability to face quality bowlers. Here we just need to hope for the best. Karthick is a good cover in case the wicketkeeper's position needs to be filled, but then, if he is anyway a part of the team, as a sixth batsman, then who do we get as a replacement? This is in the event that Sehwag does not get into form at all.

Coming to spinners, I think we are just so-so. Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble may keep the scores down, against lesser teams or against batsmen who are not adept at playing spin. Better batsmen who have faced these guys for many years, may actually get a lot of runs against them. We will probably play only one of these two guys.

Kumble can be successful against lesser teams, and also against lower-order batsmen, and he can potentially run through the tail. But against that, he is a huge liability in the field and nowadays, also with the bat. Even if he can hang around in the crease as a batsman, he cannot run fast between the wickets, he will not be able to rotate strike (say he has a batsman at the opposite end) and he will not be able to seriously wallop the bowling for some big hits and big runs.

If Chappell decides not to go with a specialist spinner, he could always call on Tendulkar, Yuvraj or Sehwag to turn their arm. It's good to also have Ganguly, who can back up as a slow-medium pacer and take care of few overs. In such a case, if Pathan is the fourth seamer, then our batting would look even better and deeper.

But one thing that Chappell has worked for, and which has clearly not converted into results, perhaps on account of the final composition of the team, is the fielding. The young and fast guys, like Suresh Raina and Mohammed Kaif, are not in the team at all. Of the current squad, only Yuvraj qualifies as a great fielder. Who is going to cover the inner circle and stop the singles? There is no one that I can think of. Maybe Uthappa. Perhaps Karthick. But that is it.

There are some people whom we would have to hide on the ground. Guys like Munaf Patel and Kumble. There is an extra run written all over it, when the ball goes to either of them. Forget about a sharp, fast return, with possibilities of a run-out.

We are not the perfectly-equipped team, but there is a lot going for India. They could cause a few upsets. Let's see how it goes.

Have India got the right mix to cause a few surprises? Let us know at Sporrtingo.