The first Test match between India and the West Indies begins from Sunday, November 6 at the Feroz Shah Kotla. The first India-West Indies starts at 0930 hours local time, which is also 0400 hours GMT.
India and West Indies meet for a Test series barely four months after India went to the Caribbean islands and emerged victorious. India won the ODI series 3-2 and the Test series 1-0, but much has changed in the interim period. For starters, India are no longer the number 1 Test team, which they were during that tour. This will be their first Test series after the disastrous whitewash in England, and they will be up against a West Indies side which is high on confidence after their recent win in Bangladesh.
The West Indies squad is a continuation from the one that played in Bangladesh, with only one replacement – injured Lendl Simmons paves the way back for Adrian Barath. Led by Darren Sammy, they will look to go in with a similar strategy as before – two pace bowlers, one medium-pacer in Sammy, a frontline spinner, DevendraBishoo and Marlon Samuels to back the spin department.
India has made some interesting changes to the side. MS Dhoni hasn’t been given a break from the Test series, while Praveen Kumar has been rested. Harbhajan Singh is dropped and in his place comes R Ashwin to lead the spin attack along with PragyanOjha. Rahul Sharma is a surprise selection.
The batting will see most of the stalwarts make a comeback, but who gets to bat number six will be a big question – Yuvraj Singh or ViratKohli. Yuvraj looks a good choice for now. Ishant Sharma could partner UmeshYadav in the pace bowling department.
Chanderpaul:ShivnarineChanderpaul has a special liking to the Indians and has an average of 67.48, including 6 centuries against them. He could well be the man to do the job for West Indies once again.
Darren Bravo: Young Bravo has always been seen as the next Lara in West Indies cricket and though his talent was never in doubt, critics slammed him for his poor temperament. He answered them in style in the second Test against Bangladesh, by scoring a majestic 195.
