India in trouble after Windies pacemen strike India's slender hopes of winning the series decider at Jamaica are now pinned on their last recognised batting pair of Sourav Ganguly (22*) and VVS Laxman (27*). A familiar Indian top-order batting collapse, after the West Indies had piled on 422 in their first innings, has meant that the duo are saddled with the onerous task of retrieving the situation for their team. They have made a beginning, adding 55 runs, to steer India to 141 for four at the end of the second day. Earlier, the West Indies, put into bat by Ganguly, were guided to a more-than-healthy score thanks to a century from opener Wavell Hinds (118) and half-centuries from Chris Gayle (68), Ramnaresh Sarwan (65), Ridley Jacobs (59) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (58). Harbhajan Singh, with figures of 5-138, his first five-wicket haul overseas, was the most successful bowler for the tourists. The Indian reply was soon in tatters at 86-4, with Wasim Jaffer (0), Rahul Dravid (5), Sachin Tendulkar (41)and Shiv Sunder Das (33) all back in the hut. That was when Laxman and Ganguly took over.

Dravid to keep wickets in first one-dayer Rahul Dravid will be donning the wicketkeeper’s gloves when India take the field in the first one-dayer against the West Indies. The master technician, despite all the runs that he scored in the Test series, does not command an automatic place in an Indian one-day line-up bristling with many stroke-players. Probably it was with this in mind that the Indian think-tank worked out the arrangement. “Yes, at least in the first match he will be standing behind the stumps. We just want to see what he can do there,” coach John Wright said. The Indian skipper, Sourav Ganguly, claimed that he has already discussed the issue with his vice-captain. “I had talks with him and he said that he had no problem in keeping wickets,” Ganguly said. Another decision that has been made is to play Sachin Tendulkar at number three or four when India are chasing big scores. Indian coach John Wright explained the decision. “We have been failing in our bid to chase big scores for some time now and we felt that it could be great to have a batsman like Sachin to finish the job at the death. “At the moment, we have four openers in our team – Sourav, Sachin, Sehwag and Mongia. We have to reshuffle the order to see what the others are capable of. The World Cup is not far off. This is the right time to try and settle the order. “We need an experienced player to see the team home in pressure situations and Sachin is definitely the best person to do so. But remember, this will only be in the case of chasing a big score. Otherwise, he will be batting as usual,” Wright observed.

Richards might head new West Indies selection panel He might have been the greatest batsman of his times and one whose very name invoked fear in the minds of fast bowlers around the world. But Sir Issaac Vivian Alexander Richards remains a mama's boy at heart. The King, as he was popularly known during his playing days, has abandoned his fledgling political career after hearing that his mother, the 78-year-old Grasel Richards, was opposed to the idea. “Having given it (the decision to join politics) another thought, I felt I should obey what she was saying,” Richards explained. He might instead decide to head the West Indies selection panel. The Leeward Isles plan to make the 50-year-old batting great their nominee to the panel when the WICB convene for the annual general meeting later this month. With former team-mates Gordon Greenidge and Andy Roberts also expected to be nominated, Richards seems ready to accept the likely honour of leading a truly illustrious team.

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