Honors even on Day I

WI were 256/5 and the Indian spinners took all the five wickets between
them. India will try to keep WI within 350 and WI will try to post a 400+
total, with Chanderpaul still there on 110.

Chanderpaul played a superb knock, 110 not out, to stifle the Indian
spinners. In Baugh he seemed to have found an ideal partner, as both forced
Dhoni to take the second new ball. Chanderpaul scored his 24th Test ton,
his seventh against India.

Ashwin found the faint edge of Samuel's bat and WI were in trouble. Samuels
had to depart for 16, caught Dhoni bowled Ashwin.

Ojha obliged his skipper several times. He got Brathwaite out of his crease
and had him stumped, thus ending a 108 run fourth wicket partnership.
Kraigg Brathwaite st Dhoni b Ojha 63.

Darren Bravo, touted as the new Lara, committed hara kiri. He failed to read
the quickish off break from Ashwin and was beaten and bowled. D Bravo b
Ashwin 12

Kirk Douglas went after the left arm spinner Ojha, but only succeeded in
lobbying the ball to him. Kirk Edwards c&b Ojha 15

Ojha dropped Powell in the last ball of his first over, but then made amends as he
trapped the WIndian right in front. Kieran Powell lbw b Ojha 14

Dhoni picked up Yuvraj instead of Kohli, Yadav instead of Aaron and
Ojha instead of Rahul Sharma.

All Indians are expectant of the century of centuries from Sachin.

Meanwhile, Chanderpaul said that the WI side is not dependent on him.

"That is not a fair statement. We have other quality batsmen in the team.
They have done well in the series in Bangladesh. We have very capable
players. I am doing what I am supposed to do and playing my role in the
team," said the master batsman. who is nearing 10 K runs.

He said he is helping the youngsters. "I have been helping my team-mates especially the youngsters how to go about batting. I am helping them in whatever way I can. When they have any doubt they come to me and I helped them." said the formidable 37 year old. He smashed seven fours and two sixes, despite being a slow starter.

"The wicket was pretty good to bat on. It might deteriorate later but it was
nice to bat today. So I started at a good pace" Chanderpaul said.

He was controversial before but Chanderpaul said, "I can't control my
selection in the team. I can do things under my control. When I was dropped
I played cricket only in the Caribbean and now I have come back."

He praised Ojha, Ashwin and Yadav.

"They (Ashwin and Ojha) are good spinners. They are competitive. He (Yadav)
has good pace and is sharp though there was not much on the wicket for him."
said Chanderpaul.

Meanwhile, Ojha said he did not get much help from the wicket.

"There was not much in the wicket for bowlers, so I stuck to one line,
played with basics. I just tried to put the ball in the right areas and did
not do any other thing"

"My last match was against New Zealand and I played county cricket after
that. I honed my skills there, learnt variations and that helped me a lot. I
also take advice from Anil Bhai and Bhajji whenever I fee" said
the maverick left arm spinner.

Ojha was all praise for Chanderapual. "He (Chanderpaul) is one of the
legends of the game. But more than the pitch which helped the batsmen, he
was using all his experience. It was a nice contest with him. There were a
couple of half chances and I thought I should have got him. I hope I can
take his wicket on Monday. West Indies batsman were not trying too much.
They were playing straight and did not play fancy shots. I hope we can take
the remaining five wickets soon on Monday"

Ojha was delighted when he removed opener Kraigg Brathwaite, who scored 63.
"I was elated with the wicket. I think he was beaten by the flight"

About being the main spinner, Ojha said, "I took it in a positive way. I tried not to
think much and focus on my performance. I take advice from Anil bhai,
Bhajji, VVS Laxman and Dravid. They told me to play in county cricket. They
want me to do well for the country."