West Indies are geared up for what I feel will be an interesting Test series against India. Although they lost the one-day series 2-3, they won the last two matches and that should give them a lot of confidence. I hope they start well although it will be a challenge with India's experienced players back in the line-up at the same time.
I am definitely disappointed not to be selected for the Test. But I have got to do what I got to do. I will see how things work out in the near future.
I feel the key for West Indies in this series will be how well our batsmen can occupy the crease. It is important that whatever start they get, they should look to capitalise on it.
West Indies will need to put up at least a score of 350 to give the bowlers something to bowl. The West Indies fast bowlers should definitely do well on this Sabina Park pitch, although Ishant Sharma will also be able to extract a fair bit out of it. But the pitch will definitely be good for batting as well.
I don't think West Indies will be tempted to play three out and out fast bowlers. In any Test, a team would opt for a spinner to play a part. Devendra Bishoo will be in the eleven. He has been bowling well and did well in the Tests against Pakistan as well.
{{/usCountry}}I don't think West Indies will be tempted to play three out and out fast bowlers. In any Test, a team would opt for a spinner to play a part. Devendra Bishoo will be in the eleven. He has been bowling well and did well in the Tests against Pakistan as well.
{{/usCountry}}The opening pair should do well. Lendl Simmons is in good form and Adrian Barath is a very good player. Young Darren Bravo played a good knock in the last one-dayer and the experienced Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shiv Chanderpaul are also in the mix. The good thing is most of them are in good nick. Among the fast bowlers, Ravi Rampaul has been the first pick of late.
For India, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh have been here before and definitely know what to expect. They will be sharing their knowledge with the team.
It is a great advantage for West Indies to start at the Sabina Park where they have a very good record. But a lot will depend on how well they carry the momentum from winning the last two one-day games into the longer version of the game. I refuse to predict the result of the series but hope both teams play good cricket. TCM