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Struggling Windies hope history will repeat itself

Suresh Seshadri

West Indies captain Carl Hooper, whose team are one down in the three-match series against India, hopes history will repeat itself when the second Test starts on Thursday.

India took a 1-0 lead over West Indies in the Caribbean this year before the home side bounced back with wins in Barbados and Jamaica to clinch the five-Test series 2-1.

On their last tour of India eight years ago, West Indies managed a 1-1 draw after winning the final Test at Mohali in dramatic fashion.

"We have obviously beaten India before," Hooper told reporters after a team practice session on Wednesday. "We have the confidence that we can do it here. We plan to play well over the next five days and take it from there.

"We came back from the Trinidad loss a few months ago, we hope we can put the Mumbai Test behind us this time."

West Indies still face an uphill task after their crushing defeat by an innings and 112 runs in less than four days in Mumbai.

"We were very disappointed by the batting in the first game. Everyone from number one to 11 was guilty," Hooper added.

West Indies folded for 157 and 188 in their two innings, failing to combat India's spinners on a pitch that started to spin and bounce viciously after the third day.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh captured seven for 48 in the second innings.

Hooper said he expected the Madras pitch to take spin.

"There's not a blade of grass on the wicket and it looks fairly dry, even drier than Mumbai," he said. "I expect it'll start turning square pretty soon and the spinners will have a big role to play."

The last time West Indies played in Madras, leg-spinner Narendra Hirwani had picked up an Indian record 16 wickets, also the pitch was relaid ahead of this series.

TURNING TRACK

India skipper Sourav Ganguly believes his spinners can wrap up the series.

"We played well in Mumbai to win in just over three days and we'd like to play positively and win here as well," he said.

"The wicket looks good and hard and it'll have some bounce early on. But it seems pretty similar to the wicket in Mumbai and I expect it to start turning soon."

But Ganguly, India's second most successful skipper with 12 Test wins to Mohammad Azharuddin's 14, said he was prepared for a West Indies fightback.

"The West Indies will obviously come hard at us in this game. It's a do or die situation for them," he said.

Ganguly, whose top-order helped the team amass 457 in Mumbai, said he expected a big contribution from leading batsman Sachin Tendulkar on one of his favourite grounds.

"Sachin enjoys batting in this ground, I expect him to get a good knock," he said.

Tendulkar, 29, has four centuries in five Tests at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium at an average of 109.16.

The second Test will also be important for Rahul Dravid, who could match West Indian Everton Weekes's record of five centuries in consecutive Test innings.

Dravid has scored 115 at Trent Bridge, 148 at Headingley, 217 at The Oval and 100 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Teams:

India (probable) - Sourav Ganguly (captain), Sanjay Bangar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Vangipurappu Laxman, Parthiv Patel, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan.

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

Umpires: David Shepherd (England), Asoka de Silva (Sri Lanka);
Third umpire: K.Hariharan (India).

Match referee: Mike Proctor (South Africa).

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