It was a captain's innings in every respect

Overall, it was Hooper's 11th century in Tests and his second since becoming captain, in only 11 Tests at the helm.

He hit 14 fours and one six in a superlative display of patience, poise, and effectiveness as he and the West Indian middle order ground the Indians to a standstill by the end of day one.

With Ramnaresh Sarwan, who made a very polished 53, his 10th Test half century, Hooper put on 113 for the fourth wicket.

And the still unfinished fifth wicket partnership, with Shiv Chanderpaul, is now also worth 113. Chanderpaul is 57 not out, for his 24th Test half century.

All this came after the West Indies had been struggling in the first session at 44-3, thanks to fast bowler Javagal Srinath, the pick of the Indian bowlers.

So it was a tremendous comeback for the West Indies and a personal triumph for their captain.

Targeting 500

Now, the West Indies, at 270-4, will be looking for a minimum of 500 runs in their first innings before letting their bowlers at the Indian batsmen.

Hooper is in hot form at present. He hit 222 against the Leeward Islands two weekends ago, then 149 not out against Jamaica last weekend.

I would suggest that the innings against Jamaica last week was the best that I have seen Hooper bat.

Chanderpaul lent crucial support to his skipper

As the West Indies captain suggested, though, he is finding new resilience in his team, and he knows that better is to come.

"The guys are understanding their responsibilities and roles better these days.

"Today, at 44-3, we needed someone to step up to the plate and bat well. That someone managed to be me, but both Ramnaresh and Shiv played quite well to pull us out of trouble.

"That was very heartening to see. I know that we are learning to play and play well. I am very optimistic for the future of our team."

It all came after Brian Lara was given out for a duck by one of the new elite umpires set up by the International Cricket Council, Darryl Harper.

In my mind, it was a very un-elite decision; a mistake made.

But instead of buckling the West Indies batting rallied in a strange way.

Guyanese connection

Chanderpaul, Hooper and Sarwan are all Guyanese.

More particularly, all three play for the Georgetown Cricket Club, the home of the Test ground, the Bourda Oval.

Last week, in Jamaica, Hooper told me that at the age of 35, he was playing better than ever.

In other words, perhaps a few more innings like the one on day one of this Test series could put Hooper and the West Indies into the positive half of the ICC Test championship.

Remember, sometimes, one gets what one wishes for.