West Indies desperate to prepare well for third Test

Pune, October 23: Thrashed and humiliated in the first two Tests, the West Indies would be desperate to get their act together in the three-day match against Ranji Trophy champions Railways starting here tomorrow as they prepare to salvage some pride in the third and final Test in Kolkata.

The West Indies have found their batting to be woefully inept and the match offers an excellent opportunity for them to set things right to avoid a whitewash in the Test series.

With Railways boasting of quality spinners like Murali Kartik and Kulamani Parida, the West Indies can expect to get Test-class challenge from them.

Kartik and Parida will themselves be trying hard to make an impression and stake their claims for the one-day series, the squad for which is still to be named.

Railways have developed as a formidable outfit in the last couple of years, mainly on account of their well-balanced line-up which does not have any extra-ordinary talent but a number of utility players who are willing to work hard and play as a well-knit unit.

Prolific scorers in the last season like Yere Goud, Raja Ali and J P Yadav make up for a solid batting line-up which has been further strengthened by the arrival of former Baroda captain Jacob Martin.

However, the star of the Railways has been the unassuming Sanjay Bangar who has worked his way into the national team with sheer determination and hard work and is doing a commendable job as a Test opener. It was not yet clear whether Bangar would be playing in this match though he does figure in the 17-member squad.

West Indies will be trying out a few options as they seek to get a right combination. Except for skipper Carl Hooper, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, none of the other batsmen have been able to tackle the Indian spinners. Even these three have had only limited success, failing to convert their starts into big knocks.

With wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs woefully out of form, the West Indies tail starts very early and the tourists would be determined to sort such things out in this match.

They are likely to play Darren Ganga, replacement for the indisposed Brian Lara, and also Darren Powell and Marlon Samuels in tomorrow's match. All the three have not been tried on this tour so far.

The inclusion of both spinners - Mahendra Nagamootoo and Gareth Breese - is also a distinct possibility given the fact that the Kolkata track is also likely to be helpful to the slow bowlers.

Apart from Mervyn Dillon, the West Indian bowling has also been a weak link with Cameron Cuffy and Pedro Collins looking far from their best. But Jermaine Lawson, who replaced Cuffy in the second Test, had looked good.

For Railways, this would be the first match after a long break from cricket and they would be keen to start the season on a positive note.

Teams (from):

Railways: Abhay Sharma (captain-wicketkeeper), Sanjay Bangar, Murali Kartik, Harvinder Singh, Jacob Martin, J P Yadav, Amit Pagnis, Tejinder Pal Singh, Yere Goud, Raja Ali, Kulamani Parida, Zakir Hussain, Shreyas Khanolkar, Santosh Sahu, Mukul Sharma, Sudhir Wankhede and Dhiraj Sharma.

West Indies: Carl Hooper (captain), Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Daren Ganga, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Ryan Hinds, Gareth Breese, Ridley Jacobs (wicketkeeper), Mahendra Nagamootoo, Mervyn Dillon, Pedro Collins, Cameron Cuffy, Darren Powell and Jermaine Lawson.

Umpires: Dr MS Mahal and CR Mohite.