With the scoreboard reading 270 for 4, you would have to say West Indies have the upper hand on the first day of the series. At one point they were 44 for 3, but the situation was salvaged, mainly by Carl Hooper.

It is harsh to say that India did things wrong today. The only fault I could find with Sourav Ganguly's captaincy was that he took too long to bring Sarandeep Singh into the attack. When you have a young player flying in and being bunged straight into a big-match arena as Sarandeep was, you need to feed him with confidence. Sarandeep was not brought on till half the day was gone, and was then given a mere three-over spell to start with. He bowled economically in that little stint and there was no need to take him off. He came back to take a crucial wicket, of Ramnaresh Sarwan, and one got the feeling that he might have done the job earlier.

That said, on a pitch like this, I just cannot blame the bowling side. It's just too flat and way too good for batting. India didn't help their causes by not holding their chances. You cannot give good batsmen chances on a track like this, and you certainly cannot drop Hooper first ball when he is in form like this. He's been batting well all season, and he certainly capitalised on his reprieves.

Actually, all the Guyanese boys had a field day. Sarwan batted very well - his technique is excellent - but then he threw it away. I really want to see him convert these starts and go on to do bigger things. And Shivnarine Chanderpaul's innings was absolutely critical. It was he who provided the late-innings momentum, and made sure that India didn't claw back.

Ganguly won't have it easy tomorrow. There is no new tactic he can come up with. What he must hope for is early wickets. Javagal Srinath is the man who can provide that, as he will be fresh and the ball will be hard. If that works out, India can hope to keep West Indies down to a reasonable score. If not, Ganguly must seriously consider going on the defensive. By that I don't mean India should play like the game has been lost. Rather, they should look to contain West Indies and frustrate out the batsmen. The pitch just has nothing for the bowlers.

Michael Holding, a key member of the West Indies pace quartet of the 1970s and '80s, will be contributing the Wisden Verdict for all the Tests in this series. He was talking to Rahul Bhattacharya.

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