West Indies face daunting task against South Africa

West Indies will look to make up for their limited-overs drubbings at the hands of South Africa when they begin the three-match Test series against the Number 2-ranked side at the Queen\'s Park Oval in Trinidad today.



Head coach Ottis Gibson adopted a positive outlook on the eve of the first test, saying his team could shake off its losing habit of the last two weeks, when it was defeated seven times by the tourist.



However, the Caribbean side has been severely hampered by injuries to a number of key players.



Ramnaresh Sarwan, the classy and experienced middle-order batsman, has been ruled out of the test series with a hamstring injury.



The bowling department has also been affected, with Jerome Taylor out with a hip injury to follow Fidel Edwards\' long-term back ailment.



There is more bad news for the host, as new pace sensation Kemar Roach looks set to be out because of a troublesome ankle that kept him out for much of the limited-overs matches.



Ravi Rampaul, with three tests under his belt, and the uncapped Nelon Pascal will lead the attack with support from all-rounders Dwayne Bravo and Darren Sammy.



Another test rookie, off-spinner Shane Shillingford, is a contender for the specialist spinner role along with left-armer Sulieman Benn.