Date-stamped : 06 Mar97 - 18:29 6 March 1997 Beware of the `injured` team Colin Croft, Gleaner Contributor THERE is no doubt about it. The loss of the immediate services of their senior fast bowler, Javagal Srinath, must be a tremendous body blow for India. Because of that fact alone, they could be starting the first Test match at a bad disadvantage. Yet, there are parts of history which suggest that the West In- dies should not take the Indians lightly. When India came to the Caribbean in 1971, the West Indies were expected to win easily yet the Indians won the series. One espe- cially remembers well the exploits of Dulip Sardesai, the master batsman and Eknaught Solkar, the medium-paced all-rounder. They managed, on one of several occasions, to pull their team from a position of being 75-5 to being finally out for over three hun- dred runs. That series was also notable for the fact that Jack Noriega got the astonishing figures of 9-95 in a vital Test in Trinidad & To- bago. Very few people ever remember that India actually won that Test match, since his output, as special as it was, simply could not match the combined exploits of Prasanna, Venkataraghavan, Durani, Bedi, Solkar and Abid Ali. Neither must the West Indian supporters find themselves thinking that because Srinath is unavailable for at least the first part of the tour, the Indians would not put up a fight. When the Australians came to the West Indies in 1973, all expect- ed that Dennis Lillee, in my opinion the best fast bowler in my lifetime, would be the killer of West Indian batting. As it turned out, Lillee had very little say in the series. Almost im- mediately, he too had to return home, suffering from a then un- detected, and unknown, stress fracture in his back. That was a disheartening situation for the Aussies, yet they also rallied to beat the West Indies in 1973, thanks to the Herculean effort of Max Walker and Jeff Hammond, two unknown but extremely determined fast bowlers. If the West Indies needed further proof that they should not ever take any opponent lightly, especially one that is wounded, they only have to look back as recently as 1995. Again the expected spearheaded of Australia`s bowling, Craig McDermott, had to re- turn home, with serious leg problems. Instead of capitulating to the West Indies because of the loss of McDermott, Australia surprised the home team with Glenn McGrath and Paul Reiffel. Since India is well known for the production of excellent spinners, Sunil Joshi, the leg spinner, would be expected to have a lot of work. If the four-day game against Jamaica was any yard-stick, not only he, but the entire Indian bowling attack will have to do something special to get the West Indies out twice in any Test match, let alone the first Test, which is being played on a feather bed of a pitch. There is some suggestion that a few of the West Indian batsmen are under pressure for this game. If Shiv Chanderpaul is fully fit for the Test - he suffered some instep injury during Guyana`s last game - then the final batting place must be between Roland Holder and Jimmy Adams. Since returning home from the tour of Australia, Holder has looked even more ready for Test cricket. I would suggest that if he is not now selected in the final XI, then he must be totally discarded. Holder has been around West Indian cricket for so long that every facet of his cricketing life has been exposed to all already, so there is no need to "look" at him again. To ask Holder to again be the man left out, despite his recent returns, would be almost insulting. On the other hand, Adams, my favourite West Indian cricketer, reminded me so much, in the game between India and Jamaica, of the recent situation of Australia`s discarded opener, Michael Slater. For Australia A, he made sure that he occupied the crease for a tremendously long time. He seemed more determined at occu- pying the crease than playing his natural game. Even though he finally made 40, it took him forever, and he certainly was not the flowing, aggressive Slater we all had come to know. So it has been for Adams. Since the selectors are doing their job from a very impartial stance, we have to believe that they will not have to consider the fact that Adams is Jamaican, and that this Test match is a home game for him. We must, at least initially, give the selec- tors the benefit of the doubt, and allow ourselves to believe that they will pick the best XI come this morning. If that is indeed the case, then Adams cannot be selected. Source :: Jamaica Gleaner (http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)