There's just no telling with West Indies and India. Form matters, but not a lot, momentum matters, but not really. They can occasionally be very good, but they are rather more prone to being bad. West Indies had lost the plot during what had appeared to be a smooth chase on the final day at Port-of-Spain. The very next day of Test cricket, at Bridgetown, India put up their worst show of the tour. At Antigua, the fourth of five Tests, it remains to be seen who manage to hold themselves better.

While India took a day off yesterday - their second in three days - West Indies had an extended practice session at the Stanford stadium, tucked cutely alongside the VC Bird airport. Andy Roberts, the greatest fast bowler the nation has produced, was busy at work with the bowlers. Adam Sanford's dangerously strong delivery-stride seemed to be a cause of concern. Despite Hooper sticking up for Sanford to the media - "He has shown the ability to get important wickets - I can remember Dravid in Barbados, Sachin in Trinidad" - it is possible that Dinanath Ramnarine, the legspinner, will be included in the XI. Still, West Indies are not known to drop players before their home crowds and that does boost Sanford's chances of making the cut.

Pedro Collins is the other candidate whose place could be conceded, but he has not only provided variety with his left-arm seam, but also the ability to do a bit with the old ball, something Hooper said "we were lacking earlier."

The pitch at the Antigua Recreation Ground (ARG) has been essentially for the batsmen - as Brian Lara's world-record score of 375 amply demonstrates. The surface was relaid last year, and since, there has been very little competitive cricket on it. Robert shrugs and says, "It's the same as before - good for the batsmen."

The wicket does offer something to the spinners though - Nicky Boje bowled South Africa to victory in the last Test played here, and left-arm spinner Neil McGarrell had taken four wickets in the first innings of the same match. Thus, the chance for Ramnarine.

India have harder choices to make with their XI. Harbhajan Singh has been innocuous in the two Tests he has played, and Ajay Ratra's inability to contribute runs has been worrisome. It's precisely these two changes that Sourav Ganguly has signalled that he is contemplating.

So expect Anil Kumble to get another chance to prove that his career outside of India isn't quite dead. Deep Dasgupta is an altogether tougher call to make - and it doesn't look like this one will be resolved till the eve of the Test. Yes, the lower order could desperately use Dagupta, and yes, Ganguly is terribly frustrated that apart from Sarandeep Singh's 39 not out in Guyana and Zaheer Khan's 46 in Barbados, Indians between no. 7 and 11 have aggregated a grand total of 78 in 20 innings in this series. Yet, the trade-off between batting depth and fielding strength may not be worth making. What if Dasgupta were to drop the catch that changed the match? Dasgupta himself told Wisden.com last week that "I'm not thinking about anything but the next Test I'm going to play for India." He would have to hold this chance if it comes his way.

Attention will of course revolve around the stars: Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara. Tendulkar's run of 0,0 and 8 comes along once in ten years. For other players it is far from a bad patch. For Tendulkar, it's a mini-crisis. A 30th Test century could be on the cards.

Nobody would bet against a Lara hundred either. He has two centuries here outside of his 375, and his average at the ground is 73.06. The Prince's time, surely, must have arrived in this series.

Teams (probable)
India 1 SS Das, 2 Wasim Jaffer, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 6 VVS Laxman, 7 Deep Dasgupta (wk), 8 Anil Kumble, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Javagal Srinath, 11 Ashish Nehra

West Indies 1 Wavell Hinds, 2 Chris Gayle, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Brian Lara, 5 Carl Hooper (capt), 6 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 7 Ridley Jacobs (wk), 8 Dinanath Ramnarine, 9 Mervyn Dillon, 10 Cameron Cuffy, 11 Pedro Collins

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

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