West Indies v India - Series Preview

The three previous clashes between West Indies and India have all been close affairs, West Indies emerging victorious by a 2-1 margin on each occasion, but India would do well to repeat such a scoreline this time around, given the form that has carried West Indies to seven consecutive series victories coupled with the expected recall of the likes of Richards, Marshall and Holding after they were rested for the tour of New Zealand. West Indies are understandably the hot favourites going into this series, but the consistent failure of the top of the batting order on the New Zealand trip does provide the Indians with perhaps the merest glimmer of hope.

The Indian squad contains just one new face in seam bowler Venkatesh Prasad, and Vijay Manjrekar has been entrusted with the number four position after his century on debut against Sri Lanka. Skipper Tiger Pataudi is under pressure following his recent run of failures with the bat, and he will be looking to rediscover the form when the sides last met in India when he topped the averages by some distance. The Indian squad contains three spinners in the shape of Chandrasekhar, Bedi and Prasanna, but with the selectors likely to pick two at most for the Tests the opening tour match in Jamaica should provide an insight into the tourists' plans.

Pataudi and Prasad, for different reasons, will
both be looking to prove a point on this tour

Current form (most recent result first)
West Indies WDWLW
India WLLDW

Previous series result
India 1 West Indies 2 (Season V; 3 Tests)

India Squad
MAK Pataudi (c), Kapil Dev (v/c), BS Bedi, BS Chandrasekhar, FM Engineer, SM Gavaskar, KD Ghavri, VS Hazare, SMH Kirmani, VL Manjrekar, M Prabhakar, BKV Prasad, EAS Prasanna, J Srinath, PR Umrigar, DB Vengsarkar.

Itinerary
- Tour Match v Jamaica
- 1st TEST (Jamaica)
- Tour Match v Trinidad and Tobago
- 2nd TEST (Trinidad)
- 3rd TEST (Guyana)
- Tour Match v Barbados
- 4th TEST (Barbados)
- 5th TEST (Antigua)