Dravid concentrated on getting behind the line

West Indies skipper Carl Hooper put India in to bat for the third successive Test, but his four fast bowlers rarely troubled the batsmen on a track that had neither bounce nor pace.

The solid batting of Jaffer and Dravid dashed Hooper's hopes of getting early wickets as the West Indies struggled for success after opener Shiv Das's dismissal in the eighth over.

Das had scratched around for 28 balls when he went back to a straight delivery from the left-armer but was surprised by the bounce and gloved it into his stumps.

It was just the start India did not want after losing in Barbados by 10 wickets, but Jaffer was unruffled and was particularly adept at dealing with anything wide of off stump.

If short of a length he was content to deflect the ball to the unprotected third man boundary, if overpitched he put it away through point.

Handsome drives

He reached his fifty in the afternoon session when he flicked paceman Mervyn Dillon for his eighth four.

Dravid also began impressively as he drove Collins through the vacant mid-on area for his first four and went on to play handsome drives and cuts.

He reached his half-century off 138 balls, driving Collins through the covers for his eighth boundary.

The West Indies made one change from the team that won the third Test by 10 wickets to square the five-match series 1-1, including opener Wavell Hinds in place of Stuart Williams.

India replaced off-spinner Harbhajan Singh with leg-spinner Anil Kumble.

West Indies: W W Hinds, C H Gayle, R R Sarwan, B C Lara C L Hooper (Capt), S Chanderpaul, R D Jacobs (Wkt), M Dillon P T Collins, A Sanford, C E Cuffy.

India: S S Das, W Jaffer, R Dravid, S R Tendulkar S C Ganguly (Capt), V V S Laxman, A Ratra (Wkt), A Kumble, Z Khan J Srinath, A Nehra.

West Indies won toss and decided to field

Umpires: D R Shepherd and R B Tiffin