Dhoni expects stiff resistance from Windies (From Asian Image)

Dhoni expects stiff resistance from Windies

10:37am Monday 21st November 2011 in Sport

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is aware the West Indies will not make things easy for his side as they look to wrap up a 3-0 series whitewash in the third and final Test in Mumbai, which gets under way tomorrow.

The hosts have already made sure of a series victory after beating their opponents by five wickets in the the opening match and by an innings and 15 runs in the second.

The latter result, in Kolkata last week, was not as one-sided as the scoreline suggests after the Windies made a fight of it in their second innings, posting 463 as they chased India's first-innings total of 631 for seven.

And Dhoni knows that performance has set off a few warning bells among India's players.

"We will try our best to make it 3-0," said Dhoni in the Hindustan Times.

"The West Indies are a good side. As you have seen in the second innings, they have talented batsmen. We are expecting a tough match.

"Our whole bowling unit looks very balanced, though. The fast bowlers look fresh, which means they can bowl a lot of overs.

"The spinners are also bowling in the same way. All of them are fairly fresh and raring to go. They back themselves which is very important in Tests."

India have made one change to their squad from the second match with Yuvraj Singh making way for Rohit Sharma, who is in line to make his Test debut.

Sachin Tendulkar will once again be aiming to secure that elusive 100th hundred when he steps out on his home patch at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium.

And West Indies batsman Kirk Edwards admits he has at times found it hard to concentrate in the presence of the 'Little Master'.

"Sometimes, I find myself focusing on him (Tendulkar) so much that I am not focusing on my fielding," Edwards was quoted as saying on www.ndtv.com.

"I think it's the same thing for yourself as it is for me. The guy is a legend, so we are all in awe of him to see him bat.

"I admire Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, I admire a majority of those guys. But playing a game with Sachin was something special.

"It's a memory that I will live with forever."

Despite two heavy defeats so far on the tour, Edwards insists there is nothing wrong with team spirit especially in the wake of their impressive second-innings batting display in Kolkata.

"I think we were pretty confident as a team even before the second innings," he said.

"Of course, we will be going into this Test match with confidence as well."

Veteran batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul has been struggling with a sore calf but is expected to play.