Harbhajan back, Dravid at No.3, Bangar may open

Port of Spain, April 18: The return of Harbhajan Singh and the injury to Mahendra Nagamootoo may well prove to be the decisive factor as India and West Indies go into the second cricket Test here on Friday.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who missed the first Test due to a shoulder injury, is fit and almost certain to be back in the Indian side which will be a tremendous boost to their chances.

Also, even though Ganguly has expressed his desire to continue to come in at number three, Dravid's knock in Guyana may just see the captain yield the spot to his teammate at least for this match 

"Dravid is a very fine player and in very good nick and it makes sense to send him at number three," Ganguly said on Wednesday. "In that situation, I will come at number five."

The West Indies realised to their chagrin on Wednesday that their most reliable leg-spinner had sustained a hamstring injury while fielding during the first Test. Though Nagamootoo has not yet been ruled out for the match, West Indies have announced that fellow leggie Dinanath Ramnarine would replace him in case he did not report fit in time.

Chasing their first Test series win outside the sub-continent in 16 years, India probably could not have asked for more positives before the match.

Even otherwise, the Indians would not be entirely unhappy with their performance in the rain-interrupted Georgetown Test which ended in a tame draw. Though they did concede a huge total of 501 runs including a double century from West Indian captain Carl Hooper, India were able to fight back thanks to a splendid knock from Rahul Dravid.

Playing with a lot of patience and determination, Dravid once again showed why he is one of the most successful Indian batsmen on wickets abroad. His knock was also a reminder to the other Indian batsmen that once they guard against making mistakes, they too can play long innings. The West Indian bowling attack is hardly threatening.

Almost all the established Indian batsmen got out to their own mistakes in the first Test, Sachin Tendulkar and V V S Laxman suffering momentary lapses in concentration after helping themselves to good scores and captain Sourav Ganguly unable to negotiate a short-pitched delivery.

There may be a change yet again in the opening slot with wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta most likely to be dropped for this game. All-rounder Sanjay Bangar will open the innings with Shiv Sunder Das in such a case while Ajay Ratra will make his Test debut. Being a regular opener for his domestic side Railways, Bangar is probably more qualified than Dasgupta for this slot but it remains to be seen how he fares at this level.

The team management also had their thinking caps on for striking the right balance in the bowling department.

There was a talk of Ashish Nehra replacing Zaheer Khan or even both being included at the cost of Anil Kumble. "Zaheer was in poor rhythm on the first day (of the first Test) but he came back strongly on the second," Ganguly said. "Nehra, of course, is a very talented bowler and from what I have seen of him on this tour, he is vastly fitter than before."

The wicket at the Queen's Park Oval has traditionally been more favourable to spinners than any other track in the West Indies but has become inconsistent in bounce in the last few years giving an advantage to the pacemen.

"We had a look at the wicket. It is pretty dry but they might water it because of heat," Ganguly said. "If it is dampish, we might look to make our attack pace heavy and in that situation would need to choose only one spinner."

The state of the pitch has also set West Indian captain Carl Hooper thinking whether it would be better to go in with four fast bowlers. "That is a possibility. We played three frontline seamers in Guyana. We hope this wicket is going to be more conducive to seam bowling and we may have a result here," Hooper said.

But as of now, the composition of three fast bowlers and one spinner is more likely to be retained. "Nagamootoo was encouraging (in the first Test) because he got Sachin (Tendulkar) out after having him dropped a ball before and then made Rahul (Dravid) nick a couple of deliveries," Hooper said. "Now he has got a hamstring problem and the doctor has advised him rest."

"It is worrying but the selectors have decided to cover him with Ramnarine," he said.

Despite West Indies posting a mammoth total in the first Test, Hooper was not entirely happy with the performance of his batsmen.

"We had a good thing going in the middle of the innings but we had a poor start and then we faded away quickly in the end. These are little things which need to be fine tuned," he said.

Hooper was not worried about Brian Lara whose return to Test cricket after six months of absence due to an injury ended in a failure. "There is not pressure on Brian. He is a world class player like Sachin Tendulkar and it is just a matter of time before he comes good. The sooner the better.

"I think he was unfortunate to be given out last time but that's cricket. He can come good in this game, the next game, anytime. I am sure he will come good on a number of ocassions before the series."

Having struck a magnificent double hundred in the first Test, Hooper was naturally quite optimistic about his own chances in this match. "I have never got a back to back century in Test cricket so it would be nice to get here but then the Guyana game is gone. It is a new Test match, I start at zero again. I am sure the Indians have had a good look at me. They must be better prepared for me in this Test."

India beat West Indies by four wickets in the second Test of the 1971 series which marked the debut of Sunil Gavaskar and five years later they managed to chase a target of 404, which remains a world record for the highest successful run- chase for a side batting fourth. 

India: Sourav Ganguly (capt), Shiv Sunder Das, Deep Dasgupta, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, V V S Laxman, Ajay Ratra, Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Mongia, Sanjay Bangar, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Sarandeep Singh, Tinu Yohannan, Javagal Srinath, Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan.

West Indies: Carl Hooper (capt), Stuart Williams, Chris Gayle, Shivnaraine Chanderpaul, Brian Charles Lara, Ramesh Sarawan, Ryan Hinds, Junior Murray, Cameron Cuffy, Adam Sanford, Mervyn Dillon, Marlon Black, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Dinanath Ramnaraine.

Umpires: Asoka De Silva (Sri Lanka) and Daryl Harper (Australia)

Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle.