West Indies face a hammering

West Indies were left shell-shocked by the spring-loaded and dusty pitch at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, and if first impressions are any indication, an even worse fate awaits at Chennai's Chidambaram Stadium. The pitch at the historic Chepauk ground - as it is known - was relaid a month ago, for the second time in nine months. Considering that it was the best pitch on view when Australia toured here 18 months ago, you have to question the wisdom, or otherwise, of the pitches committee. With the exception of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who views Indian bowlers the way a gourmand would a fine cheese, none of the other West Indian batsmen showed any sort of appetite for battle at Mumbai. The fact that an infinitely superior West Indian team was crushed here - on another under-prepared track - 14 years ago offers them little by way of hope or solace. The best they can wish for is to win the toss and put up a decent score. If India make first use of this pitch, we could have another 11-session Test match, with Harbhajan Singh (15 wickets in his last Test appearance here) and Anil Kumble near-certainties to run riot.

And it's not as if West Indies can take much consolation from their performance with the ball in the opening Test match. Sachin Tendulkar failed to cash in on home turf, in a specially rearranged 101st Test, but his record in balmy Chennai is positively Bradmanesque - four centuries in five Tests, at an average of 109. As for Rahul Dravid (strongly fancied to pick up the Castrol Indian Cricketer of the Year award later this evening) and Virender Sehwag, they're in such good touch they'd fancy their chances of doing damage with a walking stick. And there's still Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman to come after that. Only Mervyn Dillon of the West Indian bowlers looks capable of a matchwinning spell, but India won't fret too much on a surface where they picked off Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Shane Warne to the tune of 500 runs last time.

They will go into this match unchanged, Javagal Srinath given another game despite a mediocre display at Mumbai. As for West Indies, Carl Hooper promised swift changes on arrival in Chennai but after a reality check - with back-up so thin on the ground - the only new face is likely to be Marlon Samuels in place of Ryan Hinds. Samuels showed glimpses of real class in Australia two seasons ago, but his career has stalled since. A combination of a dusty wicket and Indian spin should ensure that it doesn't kick-start here.

The centre of attention - the newly laid strip - has the colour of newly baked country brick and if there was a blade of grass on top, we couldn't see it. It should be a batsman's delight on days one and two, as the gremlins bide their time to strike. And strike they will, now that Kumble and Harbhajan are armed with their weapon of choice, the lethal SG ball.

Probable teams
India 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sanjay Bangar, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 6 VVS Laxman, 7 Parthiv Patel (wk), 8 Anil Kumble, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Javagal Srinath, 11 Zaheer Khan.

West Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Wavell Hinds, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 5 Carl Hooper (capt), 6 Marlon Samuels, 7 Ridley Jacobs (wk), 8 Mahendra Nagamootoo, 9 Pedro Collins, 10 Mervyn Dillon, 11 Cameron Cuffy.