India dug themselves into a deep hole with some controversial selections anda spineless batting display on the opening day of the first Test against theWest Indies on Friday.
Aiming for their first series win in the Caribbean since 1971, the Indianshad a miserable start to their campaign as they reached 235 for nine in theirfirst innings at the Antigua Recreation Ground.
A typically gritty knock by captain Rahul Dravid who fell one short of ahalf-century and an useful partnership down the order between Sreesanth (24batting) and Anil Kumble (21) lent the total some respectability.
Virender Sehwag (36), VVS Laxman (29) and Yuvraj Singh (23) failed to converttheir starts and the lack of partnerships severely nullified Dravid's decisionto bat first on an unusually bouncy and pacy track.
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Dwayne Bravo (4-37) and Corey Collymore (3-27) were the beneficiaries ofIndia's soft dismissals but Fidel Edwards and Dave Mohammed equally troubled thevisiting batsmen.
The collective batting failure could not mask the glaring omission ofall-rounder Irfan Pathan and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.
The former might have been off colour in the one-day series but the latterbeing left out meant India will have to rely on one bowler, Kumble, forexperience in the bowling department.
The much-hyped Vikram Rajvir Singh earned his maiden Test cap as the thirdseamer, yet his batting, which was mainly swishing in thin air, was anembarrassment even by tailenders' standards.
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The Indian top order was found wanting for the umpteenth time against themoving ball.
Wasim Jaffer (1), Sehwag and the stylish Laxman all perished to regulationcatches behind the wicket as the innings slided to 72 for three in the morningsession.
The in-form Yuvraj and skipper Dravid then led the recovery with a 54-runpartnership before the former, trying to step out, was beaten by flight andchange of pace by chinaman bowler Mohammed, for the second time on the tour, for23.
Dravid then found company in Mohammad Kaif (13) with whom he added 29 runsfor the fifth-wicket that was broken when the latter inside-edged Bravo towicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin.
Another 24 runs later, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (19) reached out to a Collymoredelivery short of good length and edged it to Brian Lara at second slip.
Dravid's own innings, that consumed 173 balls and contained four boundaries,came to an end when a lapse in concentration saw him poke at an outside offdelivery from Collymore for another catch to Lara.
Sreesanth showed more punk than the specialist batsmen.
The youngster exhibited his talent with the bat by cleanly driving IanBradshaw and Collymore, and then welcomed the express pace of Edwards bythumping him twice through the cover boundary.
Kumble at the other end brought his 16 years of experience to tackle thecanny Bravo.
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But the introduction of the second new ball gave the breakthrough for theWest Indies.
The 35-five-year-old Kumble, trying to get on top of a quick rising deliveryfrom Bravo, played him on to his stumps.
His association with Sreesanth pushed India from 180 for seven to 227, avital 47-run addition.
Singh flashed at anything without the willow meeting the leather and his showended when he top edged a pull against Bravo to Ramnaresh Sarwan at cover.
Earlier, Jaffer fell in the third over of the day when he went back afteredging a lifting delivery from Edwards to Ramdin.
Sehwag began with two flicked fours off Bradshaw and generally hit at least aboundary off the two new ball bowlers before a tentative push cost him hiswicket.
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The Delhi opener cracked seven boundaries for his 36 off 37 balls and seemedto have had the measure of the wicket when he fended at a harmless delivery fromCollymore.
Collymore came into the operations in the 11th over and struck off his veryfirst ball when Sehwag's edge carried to Lara at second slip.
Laxman was in serene touch and was precise in his judgment of Collymore whobowled an impeccable line.
Laxman thumped both Edwards and Bradshaw for square driven fours and had astraight drive which screamed to the fence in no time.
In between, there was a streaky jab at a delivery from Collymore which foundthe fence alright but showed the pitch to be of awkward variety.
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Growing confident with each passing minute though proved to be Laxman'sfailing as he aimed a loose drive at a Bravo delivery and edged a catch behindthe stumps.
He faced 74 balls and hit five fours in his knock of 29.
PTI
