Rain scare looms as India look to end on a high

Dominica. The Windsor Park at Roseau, Dominica, is set to become Test cricket's 106th home when it hosts the third test between India and West Indies, but the significance of the match is much more than that for the visitors. India has never won two tests in a series against Windies, and they have not won more than one test in an away series since 2004 in Pakistan. While the Indians would like to improve on that record, the islands notorious rain may play spoilsport.

Dominica Island is a place where you can’t forecast rain, it downpours even on an absolutely clear sky and it would be a miracle if the game is not halted due to rain during the match. But rain is not the only throne in India’s way, the juicy pitch and the windy conditions can be a big scare for an apparently inexperienced Indian batsman. Except Dravid, Laxman and Raina none of the Indian batsman have made a mark in the two tests so far.

It would also be interesting to see how Virat Kohli and Murali Vijay flare out after they have been dumped ahead of the England tour. In the bowling department Ishant and Praveen have grabbed this opportunity with both hands and will definitely be the main weapons for Mahendra Singh Dhoni despite a freakish injury due to soccer game collision in the practice session.

A fit Munaf Patel may come back for Abhinav Mukund, while ace spinner Harbhajan Singh will look to improve on his poor show so far in the Caribbean.

West Indies will know that they need to put up a better batting performance if they want to give the visitors a run for their money. Dropping Sarwan has been a big step, especially as Gayle is already missing and Chandrapaul not playing at his very best. But Marlon Samuels, Barath and Darren Bravo have been chipping in with some steady runs, it’s just a question if they can apply themselves and make big scores.

Fidel Edwards, whose return to international cricket has been fantastic, has taken 13 wickets in this series so far and gave the Indian batsman some serious trouble through his pace and bounce. Ravi Rampaul has been a revelation and so has been Bishoo, captain Sammy hasn’t played too badly even.

But taking everything into account India definitely have their nose ahead of the final test of the series.