Samuels or Bravo?

Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

Having already lost the One Day International (ODI) series 3-2, the West Indies will today seek to turn the tables on India, when the two face off in the first of their three-Test series at Sabina Park, beginning at 10 a.m.

The contest will see the West Indies trying to gain a positive start to the series, which should they win, would see them moving up the International Cricket Council rankings.

India are currently ranked number one ahead of South Africa and England, while the West Indies are ranked seventh, a spot below Pakistan and two places behind Australia.

The West Indies, who will be hoping to build on their win-six, draw-three, lose-one record against India at Sabina Park, will enter the contest with the difficult task of having to choose between Marlon Samuels and Darren Bravo for a batting spot, and Ravi Rampaul and Fidel Edwards for a bowling spot.

In the batting department, it is widely expected that the in-form Lendl Simmons and the returning Adrian Barath, as the only specialist openers in the 13-man squad, will start the innings, while in the middle order, it is very unlikely that the management team will leave out veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the experienced Ramnaresh Sarwan, and Brendan Nash, who while having failed against Pakistan, remains a dependable Test batsman.

who will be selected

This then leaves space for one batsman and with Bravo and Samuels both having cases as to why they should be involved, it will be interesting to see who the selectors will go with.

For Samuels, after making a relatively decent return to his international comeback, including creditable Test half-centuries against Pakistan, and runs under his belt against India in the ODI series, it will be difficult to leave him out, especially in front of his home crowd.

Bravo, on the other hand, since making his debut, is yet to really fail, given his average of 44.71 after five Test matches.

After being dropped for the early part of the ODI series against India due to a dip in form, the Trinidadian did himself no harm in cracking a top score of 89 to help lead the West Indies to victory in last Thursday's ODI.

regain old form

As for Rampaul and Edwards, it should be a case of whether the management team will go with the relatively in-form Rampaul, or give Edwards, who was one of Barbados' best bowlers this season in the WICB four-day tournament, a chance to regain his old form on what is expected to be a bouncy Sabina strip.

The bowling unit is expected to be completed by the speedy Kemar Roach, who in 12 Tests so far has taken 40 wickets and averages 29.90, captain Darren Sammy, whose match-winning five wicket haul against Pakistan still remains vivid in the minds of fans, and impressive leg-spinner Davendra Bishoo, who since making his introduction on the international stage, has proven to be an handful.

India, in the meantime, will be at full strength for the encounter given the return of a number of their marquee players, who opted out of the ODIs.

These include captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman.

They will however, still be without the likes of the injured Virendar Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar, who asked for a break from international cricket. This could open the door for debuts to opener Abhinav Mukund and middle order batsman and former India Under-19 captain, 22 year-old Virat Kholi.