This Barbados Test began and ended on the first morning. As soon as West Indies bowled India out for 102, it was pretty much over. It's almost impossible to make such a small total in the first innings and avoid defeat, and so it proved. Mervyn Dillon bowled superbly and at times, he reminded me of Courtney Walsh. He has a very similar action, without being anywhere near as accurate. He tends to bowl open-chested, as Walsh did, and from wide of the crease. But he still has an awful lot to learn, especially when it comes to consistency. He found that in this match and richly deserved the Man of the Match award.

The pitch was certainly a major factor. Sourav Ganguly said before he came here that he wouldn't be thinking about India's poor record at Barbados, that his team would instead focus on what they did right in Trinidad. But the moment the ball started to bounce and move around a bit, all those dreadful memories came flooding back. Result? 102 all out.

Adam Sanford got three wickets in the first innings with short-pitched balls but in general, they were sparingly used. This West Indian pace quartet isn't the fastest you'll ever see and they can't afford to overdo the short stuff. On a pitch like this, with the new ball, it made much more sense to keep the ball pitched up and make the most of any movement off the seam. Those were the deliveries that ultimately picked up the wickets.

The series is still wide open, and everything depends on the surfaces for the two remaining Tests at St. Johns and Sabina Park. Both teams are evenly matched, with shaky openers, Nos. 3 to 6 getting all the runs, and an invisible tail. I don't think India will fancy anything like this particular strip.

The opening problem remains a vexing one heading to Antigua. The two Hinds, Ryan and Wavell, could come into contention, as could specialist opener Devon Smith. It all depends on what the selectors do - whether they bring in a new opener or whether they opt to move someone from the middle order up to open. That could only be Ramnaresh Sarwan. Personally, I would like to see him opening, with Wavell Hinds at number three. But I have given up trying to understand the selectors.

Despite this success, I don't believe Carl Hooper is the right man for the captaincy. I never have, and never will, given his attitude to West Indies cricket in the past. Even now, you can see that he's not tactically astute. But certainly, his batting since he was appointed captain has stepped up tremendously. He's aware of the responsibility on his shoulders and is making sure that he does his job. It's just a pity that it took him 14 years to understand what was required of him as a batsman.

Talk of a West Indies revival is very premature. I have always maintained that winning at home is expected. Every team does better at home than they do away. When Jimmy Adams was captain and we beat Zimbabwe and Pakistan at home, people said that West Indies cricket had turned around, I warned them then to wait until we won abroad. Winning away is what matters; it's the real test of a team's quality. Even if we beat Australia here - as we almost did the last time they toured - I wouldn't jump up and announce that we had turned a corner. That has to wait until you win away from home.

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 Dileep Premachandran.

More West Indian Verdicts
Day 1 Frail as ever
Day 2 The burden of expectation
Day 3 Collective matchwinners

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