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Sourav Ganguly said that his team had missed an opportunity to put pressure on West Indies after the first Test had ended in a draw.

"We had a chance to gain an upper hand when we reduced West Indies to 44 for 3 on the first morning, but couldn't capitalise on it. One more wicket at that stage would have put the Test in a different perspective," said Ganguly, referring to the dropped catch that let Carl Hooper off the hook before he had scored.

India paid dearly for Deep Dasgupta's lapse as Hooper led a remarkable recovery, adding 113 for the fourth wicket with Ramnaresh Sarwan (53) and a record 293 for the fifth with Shivnarine Chanderpaul (140). Hooper went on to smash a brilliant 233 for his maiden Test double-century to help his team amass 501 in the first innings.

"We bowled pretty well in the first session of the Test, but dropped Hooper early in his innings. We just can't afford to miss such chances. We have to capitalise on them to put pressure on the opposition," reflected Ganguly.

Javagal Srinath had carved out an early opening for the tourists, removing openers Chris Gayle (12) and Stuart Williams (13), and prolific run-getter Brian Lara for no score in his incisive spell. Srinath, however, lacked support from the other end as neither Anil Kumble nor Zaheer Khan were able to put pressure on the West Indian batsmen. Kumble struggled to find rhythm as he grabbed two wickets for 145 off 45.1 overs and Zaheer 2 for 97 off 32, sending down 14 no-balls and one wide.

India's coach John Wright said his team had to considerably improve bowling in the remaining four Tests so as to enhance chances of winning an away Test series. "There was no support for Srinath," Wright said. "Somebody has to chip in from the other end. We need bowlers who can keep pressure from both the ends."

India were without Harbhajan Singh, ruled out due to a shoulder-injury sustained during a three-day game before the Test. "Physio Andrew (Leipus) is confident Harbhajan will be fit for the next Test," said Wright.

The coach echoed the captain's sentiments, saying the team just could not afford to miss chances on a flat wicket. "He (Dasgupta) has been improving of late, but has to bear in mind that in tight matches he has to grab chances. It's very important to take your chances, especially on a flat wicket," said Wright.

Wright added that he had was looking for an improved performance from his team in the second Test, starting in Trinidad on Friday (April 19). "We got a feel of the conditions in this Test. We made a decent start, considering that we had struggled in the opening Tests on tours of Sri Lanka and South Africa. Good that four of our six main batsmen clicked."

Carl Hooper said his team could have done better in the Test despite scoring a big first-innings total. "We've to improve our batting and bowling," he said. "We were struggling at 44 for 3 and then I also got a life early on. But that's cricket.

"Cuffy bowled really well, kept a good line and length. Dillon just came off a knee injury. Probably, he didn't bowl as much as he wanted coming into the match. He looked a bit short of preparations. I'm sure we can do better."

"I want to put this Test match down to a feeling-out process," continued Hooper. "We played pretty well here. Our middle-order batted their hearts out and the bowlers were quite impressive. A lot of people think we're a very poor team but that's not true. We have a lot of very talented players and we're not scared of any team in the world."

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