Charlie says he is the most experienced groundsman in the world. In 44 years he's seen lots at Sabina Park. Charlie made the pitch where they once, in his words, "waved the white flag", because Mikey Holding and friends sent five Indians to the hospital. Charlie calls that "Bedi time". And Charlie was also there when play was called off within a ridiculous 45 minutes of a Test match, against England four years ago. The notorious ridge in the pitch has since been removed. Yes, the Sabina Park pitch is an object of fascination. And it is this pitch that will decide the series between India and West Indies, which has been so closely contested over the last five weeks.

Really, this match will be about whose bowlers can exploit the conditions best. There is a handy covering of live grass on the surface, and, according to Charlie, the pace actually picks up around day three as the grass grows and the moisture percolates up to the surface. All through, the ball could be expected to consistently rise above waist height.

Which is why, despite widespread criticism, it is more than likely that West Indies will play four fast bowlers for the fourth successive time. Carl Hooper has been bullish about his pace attack from the moment Mahendra Nagamootoo was ruled out after a road accident in Guyana. His replacement, Dinanath Ramnarine, should have been picked in Antigua - but that doesn't mean that he should be picked now. Only the steadily declining potency of newcomer Adam Sanford may convince the selectors to include Ramnarine. Basically, Hooper will back himself to win the toss for the fifth straight time – it's been that kind of series for him – and insert India.

India themselves have one change forced upon them: Harbhajan Singh for Anil Kumble, who is already on the path to recovery after the surgery on the jaw in his hometown, Bangalore. The other possible – but unlikely - change from the XI that played in Antigua is Deep Dasgupta for SS Das, whose scores this series are 33, 10, 0, 0, 35, 3.

India's biggest challenge will be to dismiss Hooper and Chanderpaul. Hooper has an astonishing 556 runs in five innings; Chanderpaul is averaging 222.50 for the series. As Ganguly grumbled amiably the other day, it feels like all his team has been doing in the Caribbean is fetching balls for Hooper and Chanderpaul to hit to the boundary again.

And will the battle of the No. 4s please begin? We've been promised Tendulkar v Lara all summer and what has come of it? Two players averaging 34 and 31.6, outscored by all of their middle-order colleagues.

The man with the bigger point to prove among the two is Tendulkar. Three ducks in four innings is hardly what you expect from any cricketer, let alone the world's best batsman. Some perversely delighted by his failure - like Wisden.com's own Australian columnist, Chris Ryan - have already begun to establish that every Aussie who ever lifted a bat has been more special than Tendulkar. Another failure at a crunch time might even win Ryan some believers.

When you average 65.02 over the last four years, there will come the odd failure. But yes, if this pitch be testing, if the situation be dicey, if the series be there to be won, and if Tendulkar really be great, then he should score.

Likewise Lara, though he has more of an alibi than Tendulkar. His movements are still restricted after his elbow fracture in Sri Lanka, and he's had to use the Tests as the stage to regain form after a five-month layoff.

Yet, at the end of the day, no matter what Tendulkar or Lara do - or don't do - what will be remembered, always, is which team won the series. India and West Indies do have it all to play for.

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

India 1 SS Das, 2 Wasim Jaffer, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 6 VVS Laxman, 7 Ajay Ratra (wkt), 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Javagal Srinath, 11 Ashish Nehra

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