West Indian captain Carl Hooper doesn't expect India to roll over easily after their ten-wicket loss at Barbados last week. "No, I don't think India will be soft after the Barbados defeat," Hooper said at a practice session ahead of the fourth Test at Antigua yesterday.

"When we came from Trinidad we were feeling the same way they must be feeling now. Cricket is a funny game and things can turn around pretty fast like they did for us in Barbados."

But Hooper is pleased in the manner his team has been shaping up. "For the very first time in a very, very long time we actually have competition for places. We got Ryan Hinds in the side who averaged about 42 in Sharjah and he's waiting to take another look in. We're all aware of this and we've got to make sure we continue the good work."

The batting has looked excellent the entire series. Brian Lara is the man Hooper is banking on to fire now. "The batting has been thereabouts. But I don't think we're in full steam - probably our best batsman in the side, Brian, is yet to get going. I hope he can come good in this match, and the one after this in Jamaica."

The one change in the batting is the inclusion of young left-hander Wavell Hinds over Stuart Williams, who had not quite made the most of his recall into the Test team. "Frankly we've got a bit of a concern from the opening positions," Hooper admitted. "The selectors when they picked Wavell Hinds have gone in for a batter who is in good nick. He did well in the Busta Cup and scored a big hundred against India at St. Lucia."

It is believed that the Antigua Recreation Ground pitch may persuade West Indies to rethink their all-pace attack to accommodate a spinner. "It certainly will be on our minds." Yet, he indicated that dropping either of Adam Sanford or Pedro Collins would not be easy.

"Sanford had shown the ability to get important wickets - I can remember Dravid in Barbados, Sachin in Trinidad. That's the key. I think we all know that he is new to Test cricket. You'd expect him to go at 4-5 an over. But he's shown he has the ability to take wickets, which is great. Pedro bowled an excellent spell to Laxman and Ganguly on the last day. He got Laxman bowling well with the old ball, something we were lacking earlier."

"About the bowling, we can't thank them enough for the great show in the last Test at Barbados. That's when we knew what the bowlers are capable of doing. They finally came good when it mattered."

Rahul Bhattacharya is a staff writer with Wisden.com India. His reports will appear here throughout the Test series.

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