The first points in this series have really gone to the batsmen, whichever side they may have been on. On a Guyana shirtfront, the only thing more inevitable than the rain were the runs. Trinidad is greener. Carl Hooper came, looked, and spoke like he almost had the battle won. "A result shouldn't be a problem on this wicket." With Mahendra Nagamootoo ruled out after failing to recover from a hamstring injury, Hooper opted for a four-prong pace attack with Marlon Black joining the battery againstthe pace-wary Indians.

India have tougher decisions to make. Sarandeep Singh will sit out, but this doesn't necessarily mean that Harbhajan Singh, available after a shoulder injury, will take his place in the XI. Sourav Ganguly indicated that there may be three seamers - plus Sanjay Bangar - and only one spinner in the starting team. Anil Kumble or Harbhajan could possibly miss out. "It's a difficult choice. If we play one spinner, someone has to sit out," said Ganguly.

In addition to his support bowling, Bangar is also likely to open the batting. Deep Dasgupta's stock as wicketkeeper has now fallen so low that even the team management seem wary of affording him more learning time in international cricket. Wasim Jaffer, the second specialist opener in the squad after Shiv Sunder Das, provides no real bowling option, so Bangar it must be. His first-class average is close to 40, and a lot of his runs have come from the top of the order. Just how big the gulf between Indian domestic and international cricket is will reveal itself over the next five days.

Then of course, there is the No. 3 dilemma. It's one that should never have been, but that has been created by an unfathomable obsession with starting every Test series with a different man in the slot. Ganguly chose to work his way out of bad form by promoting himself there, but in Guyana he flopped badly. He made 5 and his almost legendary weakness against the short-pitched ball was exploited, even on the meekest of surfaces. Meanwhile, Rahul Dravid, who generally takes guard at No. 3 overseas, made an unbeaten 144 that was beautiful and doughty in equal measure. Ganguly suggested that Dravid, the man in form, will probably move up. But it all still remained rhetoric. "If he bats at No. 3, I'll bat at 5." If.

Ganguly himself spent about two hours batting in an optional net session yesterday. Some, like Dravid and VVS Laxman, had a workout with the physical trainer, Adrian le Roux, in the morning, and gave nets a miss. Ganguly batted and batted. For 45 minutes he had a straightforward net. Then, he had coach John Wright and some of his team-mates throw him a hard white plastic ball from about 15 yards. When the bounce proved too steep, he switched to a wet tennis ball that skidded on rather than leapt up.

Historically, India have prospered at Port-of-Spain. Their only two Test victories in the Caribbean have come here, and one of them was chasing 403 in the last innings. But this is also Brian Lara's backyard. He has a promenade named after him, and people are keen to tell you that "he gonna lick Tendulkar, maan." Lara is actually believed to take a keen interest in Tendulkar's career. He has even been reported to have turned down a TV interview, unless Tendulkar was also on it, so keen is he to learn about his less dazzling, perhaps more distinguished, fellow great.

In fact, last evening, over soothing, mainstream, soft rock, Lara and Tendulkar hung out at the Pelican Inn Pub adjoining the Hilton, pretty much by themselves, before a few more Indian players drifted in. More proof that the pub is a great old place to talk cricket.

West Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Stuart Williams, 3 Brian Lara, 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Carl Hooper (capt), 6 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 7 Junior Murray, 8 Mervyn Dillon, 9 Cameron Cuffy, 10 Marlon Black, 11 Adam Sanford.

India (probable): 1 SS Das, 2 Sanjay Bangar, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 6 VVS Laxman, 7 Ajay Ratra (wk), 8 Anil Kumble, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Javagal Srinath, 11 Zaheer Khan.

Rahul Bhattacharya is a staff writer on Wisden.com.

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