It’s not about history and geography but maths now

Will Irfan Pathan swing back, recapture that magic morning hat-trick form of Karachi at the lush, green Antigua Recreation Ground tomorrow? He’s struggling for pace, length and confidence now, and Chappell knows that Pathan’s response to that question could well give India the key to this Test series.

There are some other questions, too, for Team India, but they involve a little bit of history, geography and some maths. India last won a Test series in West Indies 35 years ago, when Ajit Wadekar’s XI stormed the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad by seven wickets. And the West Indies, even in their darkest days, have fought like a team possessed at home, especially here: the one-run win against Pakistan in 2002 and the world-record chase of 418 versus No. 1 Australia three years later.

But for India, after the one-day setback, it’s the math that will now count over the next five days: Five bowlers or four? Two spinners or one? “We have to regroup,” says Chappell. “The boys have to get out of the mental block. We can’t start defensively and that’s why we have to go with five bowlers. We have to think about winning.”

It’s a combination Chappell has stuck to, despite the two humiliating last-day disasters against Pakistan and England early this year. And it’s a combination, skipper Rahul Dravid didn’t seem too sure about. “Obviously, Sachin Tendulkar is missing, so another batsman may come in or maybe two. If you play the fifth bowler, it puts a bit of pressure on your batting, so you’ve got to ensure that some of the batsmen contribute,” says Dravid.

What is sure though, for now, is that India will open with Virender Sehwag and Wasim Jaffer. Sehwag has two 90s in the one-day series working for him and Jaffer looked very solid in the practice game, recovering from a shin surgery.

Then there’s the very, very special Laxman, though India’s recent run has not been very special for the Hyderabad stylist. Dropped for the team’s last two Tests against England, Laxman, says Dravid, is now “very important for us”. Also waiting is Anil Kumble, whose fantastic comeback with the broken jaw made more news than India’s cricket here in 2002, and Harbhajan Singh, who has been helping a few local bowlers get a grip on the famous doosra here.

And yes, there are two other areas that Dravid and Chappell have an eye on:

• The close-in catching that let the team down so badly in Pakistan and against England.

“We haven’t had much time to work on it. That’s a department that’s important to us because we have the quality of spin, but we need to hold those catches,” says Dravid.

• The fielding that decided the one-day series.

“In these conditions, saving runs would be the most important factor. We will be able to control the game only if when save runs,” says Dravid.

India, of course, has no control over the final factor — those 22 yards. Thankfully, this will be the first surface that the team has come across on this tour that has not been recently relaid.

With a layer of dry grass, it promises to be hard, letting the ball bounce nicely on to the bat. Ask Brian Lara, or look at the scoresheet of April 16-20, 1994 and April 10-14, 2004. They show two numbers against the West Indies captain’s name: 375 & 400. Now that’s some maths India hope they won’t have to work on this time.