West Indies face 'test of character'

ST JOHN'S, Antigua (Reuters):

THE WEST Indies face a true test of character in the four Tests against India after winning the one-day series 4-1, captain Brian Lara said, yesterday.

India have not won a Test series in the West Indies since 1971, but are third in the International Cricket Council Test rankings.

"We now have to come up and ensure we face them full on and ensure that we play competitive cricket and win critical moments in the Test matches," Lara said.

"This is a true test of character. This is not who plays best on the day. This is who plays best over 15 sessions of cricket.

DIFFERENT APPROACH

"I'm going to speak to the guys and ensure they have a different approach to the Test matches," Lara said. "This is a different form of the game. We've got to take it in a different fashion."

The first Test starts today at the Antigua Recreation Ground in St John's.

India's beaten limited-overs squad has been boosted by five players, including experienced batsman, Vangipurappu Laxman and legspinner, Anil Kumble.

The tourists warmed up for the Test with a drawn two-day match against Antigua and Barbuda in which four of their batsmen hit half-centuries.

"We're really keen to win a Test series here for the first time in 35 years," captain Rahul Dravid said. "We've got the quality. It's going to be a question of execution of skills in the four Test matches.

"It is a long series and it is going to be a question of maintaining that consistency over the five weeks that lie ahead of us."

The West Indies have main-tained the nucleus of the squad that won the limited-overs series, with opening batsman Daren Ganga, the only player amongst the 14 not to feature in the one-dayers.

SQUADS

West Indies: Chris Gayle, Daren Ganga, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Brian Lara (captain), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Runako Morton, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin, Ian Bradshaw, Dave Mohammed, Jerome Taylor, Corey Collymore, Fidel Edwards.

India: Virender Sehwag, Wasim Jaffer, Rahul Dravid (captain), Vangipurappu Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Mahendra Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Irfan Pathan, Ramesh Powar, Anil Kumble, Munaf Patel, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Vikram Singh, Shantha-kumaran Sreesanth.