Depleted by the absence of Mohammed Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja, Sourav Ganguly's team looks too strong for the hosts, still relative newcomers to top class international cricket.

With Australia awaiting the winners of this match in the second round, there are no second chances here, given the elimination format of this tournament.

The Indians have three new faces in the ranks, Punjab batsman Yuvraj Singh, Delhi wicketkeeper Vijay Dahiya and Baroda seamer Zaheer Khan and the question that faces the captain and manager Anshuman Gaekwad is whether or not to risk fielding all three tomorrow in preparation for the tougher match ahead.

Not that the Kenyans are a pushover. In the 1996 World Cup played in the sub-continent, they pulled off one of the greatest upsets in limited overs cricket when they beat the West Indies at Pune. India too has been beaten by this team, at Gwalior during the Independence Cup three years ago. Kenya therefore, cannot be taken lightly. Yet, the Indians look to be carrying simply too much firepower against coach Sandeep Patil's men. The former Mumbai and India cricketer is a crafty and inspiring coach, and knows local conditions well, having played here for the last 14 years. Yet, he and his team will have to come up with something special if they are to stop India here.

India have not played international cricket since the disappointing Asia Cup campaign at Dhaka in June. Since then, the establishment has gone through severe embarrassment in the form of bribery and match-fixing charges, raids and allegations that led to the exit of team coach and champion all rounder Kapil Dev three weeks ago. For the cricketers, there is much to play for.

Coach Gaekwad summed it up thus: ''All of us, everyone is looking to put the past behind us. The team wants to make a fresh start. We are now looking ahead, not over our shoulders.'' Skipper Ganguly echoed the sentiments. ''It is now time to move on,'' he said.

With the pitch area sporting a green and fresh look, Gaekwad, Ganguly and vice-captain Rahul Dravid will be hard pressed to pick the final XI for tomorrow. In a practice match against the West Indies yesterday, the left-handed Yuvraj scored a punishing half-century and Kambli chipped in with a 44 as India coasted to a six-wicket win at the Ruraka Sports Club ground.

On a lively pitch, Venkatesh Prasad made a few points with three wickets including that of star batsman Brian Lara for a duck and he will be keen to add to his existing 174 wickets in ODIs. Zaheer opened alongside the 31-year-old from Karnataka and finished with one for 30 from eight brisk overs.

The last time India played here, in the LG Cup last year, left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi finished with the quite unbelievable figures of five South African wickets for six runs. Under normal circumstances, he should have walked into the XI. The catch this time is that the playing square has been completely relaid and is now expected to favour the fast bowlers.

Such being the case, there is a possibility that Joshi will make way for Zaheer to team up with Prasad and Ajit Agarkar.

The batting is the main area of worry for Gaekwad, Ganguly and Tendulkar. At the warm-up game yesterday, Ganguly dropped down the order and sent S Sriram to partner Tendulkar against the new ball attack. This is a pointer towards the thinking in the team as the feeling is that the middle order, minus the experience of Azharuddin and Jadeja, is a little shaky.

How this conundrum will be solved remains to be seen. Neither coach nor captain was very forthcoming with their thoughts on the matter as is usually the case. The team balance, so vital if India are to win tomorrow ahead of the game against Australia, has become the most talked about point at the Gymkhana grounds, where India were at practice this afternoon.