Not Brian Charles Lara, but a West Indian batsman with an Indian name has been troubling Sourav Ganguly's Indians the most on the current cricket tour. Shivnarine Chanderpaul hammered 140 in the opening Test at Georgetown, an unbeaten 67 in the second at Port-of-Spain and 101 not out in the third at Bridgetown to remind Ganguly that all is not well with India's bowling. This is not the first time Indian cricketers have been uncomfortable with Indian names in West Indies teams.

Spinner Sonny Ramadhin tied the Indian batsmen into knots on their maiden tour of the Caribbean in 1952-53, taking five wickets in his team's 142-run victory at Bridgetown.

Rohan Kanhai punished the Indian bowlers at Calcutta in 1958-59 when he cracked 256, the highest individual score by a West Indian batsman against India in 73 Tests.

Players of Indian descent have been serving the West Indies cricket with distinction since 1950, when Ramadhin arrested the world's attention with his versatile spin bowling.

Twenty cricketers, mainly from Trinidad and Guyana, have so far represented the West Indies at Test level. They have made their presence felt as spinners and batsmen, like the players of the land their forefathers had migrated from to work as indentured labourers in the sugarcane fields in the 19th century.

As with Indians in their homeland, fast bowling has never been their forte. It is hardly surprising that no fast bowler of Indian origin has ever played Test cricket for the West Indies.

Observers feel the left-handed Chanderpaul bats more like an Indian than a West Indian, the stress being on building an innings rather than flaying the rival attack.

"I think it has something to do with the physique," said 'Reds' Perreira, a veteran West Indian radio commentator. "They're skilful batsmen and spinners, but not fast bowlers. One can see Indian-like concentration when Chandrpaul bats. But not every batsman of Indian origin bats like him, for Ramnaresh Sarwan likes to play strokes."

It all began with Ramadhin, a 5ft 4in bowler capable of turning the ball from off to leg as well as from leg to off to beguile the batsmen. The first East Indian to represent the West Indies, Ramadhin had played just two trial games before being picked for the 1950 tour of England. The English batsmen found him a riddle difficult to unravel as the spinner captured 26 wickets in four Tests, including 11 for 152 off 115 overs in the second at Lord's.

The batsmen had to contend with not one, but two quality slow bowlers as Alf Valentine also kept pressure with his left-arm spin. The duo scripted the maiden West Indies Test series victory in England, inspiring Lord Beginner to pen a famous calypso: "Those two little pals of mine, Ramadhin and Valentine." Ramadhin retired with 158 wickets in 43 Tests.

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