Everybody was deceived by the pitch. It had a lot of grass on it, and had you seen it a couple of days ago, it would have seemed wise to insert the opposition on winning the toss. But yesterday and today, it seemed to have changed a little bit in character, and it seemed to me that it would favour the batsmen. In all my years of playing in Trinidad, I have never seen a fast pitch here. There is lateral movement in the first two hours - with this kind of grass on the pitch, you could expect just that - but once one plays out the first session, it becomes a good track to bat on. Thus, I feel Carl Hooper's decision to insert India on winning the toss was wrong - I would have batted first.

Anil Kumble's omission, based on India's misreading of the pitch, was a big mistake. Kumble and Harbhajan Singh are both top-class spinners, and I think India should have played them both, looked to bat first if they won the toss, and backed the two to do the job for them, especially in the second innings. India's pace bowlers are basically just trundlers, and after the new ball loses its shine and hardness, they will struggle. India are batting first anyway, because of Hooper's mistake; now they must capitalize.

Mervyn Dillon and Cameron Cuffy were wayward in the first few overs that they bowled, and they didn't make the batsman play enough. They frittered away the early advantage: you cannot afford to waste the new ball. The Kookaburra ball that is being used here does not last very long, and its seam deteriorates very fast. It is imperative, thus, to make optimum use of the early overs of the match.

Sachin Tendulkar's innings was not the classical knock one expects from him, but it was excellent under the circumstances. The pitch was slow-paced, with the ball not coming on to the bat, and Tendulkar again showed what a master he is, adapting brilliantly to the conditions. His team needed him to deliver; he did.

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 Amit Varma.

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