Date-stamped : 03 Mar97 - 06:15 27 February 1997 Indian manager thinks batting will decide series Gerald Reid, Gleaner Sports Reporter BATTING will decide the outcome of the five-Test cricket series between India and the West Indies, Indian cricket coach, Madan Lal said yesterday. The Indians arrived late Tuesday night and held a practice ses- sion at Sabina Park yesterday aftenoon in preparation for their first tour match against Jamaica which starts tomorrow. Lal predicted a good, tough series. "We have gained a lot of experience in South Africa and we have a young side and a lot of promising youngsters coming up," Lal said. "Definitely it`s a batsman game and once a batsman gets a hundred or the team gets past 300, 350 or 400 runs, it puts the opposi- tion under pressure. "If we get that hundred we have every chance of winning a Test match. This also goes for the West Indies. It goes for any other side." Lal said the West Indies was very good and possessed a couple of world-class batsmen. "I don`t think their batting is weak. There are a good all-round side, and they have always being a very good one, and I don`t think we are going to take them easily," he said. Speaking of captain Sachin Tendulkar, coach Lal said: "If he should get among the runs, I can tell you one thing, Jamaicans will remember his feat for a very long, long time. "You will be seeing two of the greatest batsman in the world; Tendulkar for India and Brian Lara for the West Indies." According to the former Indian all-round, in assessing the present West Indies and Indian teams for this showdown, he said: "West Indies is a very good side because they played a good series against Australia which they lost 3-2," said Lal. "It will be a very good contest." Although it is the first trip to the Caribbean for most of his players, Lal said the Indians were familiar with the West Indi- ans. "They have played against them at home and it should be a very good experience for them," he said. "During our last series in South Africa we had very good team spirit. We did not do too well in the beginning but in the third Test we played very well. We nearly won it," he said. Asked if India have started to produce more pacers than their customary host of spinners, he said: "We now have a complement of four fast bowlers in our team. "We have Javagal Srinath, a right arm fast bowler which is the quickest we have but Prasad Venkatesh is a very good seam bowler with Abey Kuruvilla and Dodda Ganesh to back them up. I think we have a good string of four fast bowlers. Source :: Jamaica Gleaner (http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)