darren bravo
West Indies batting hopes rest on Darren Bravo's shoulders Getty

West Indies host India in the first Test match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium at Antigua on 21 July (Thursday). This is the first test in the four-match series.

Where to watch live

Match starts at 3pm BST. Live TV coverage is available on Sky Sports 5 and Sky Sports 5 HD. Click here for the live streaming link.

Overview

Amid the hoopla of the ongoing 2016 Caribbean Premier League, the West Indies start their International summer hosting a strong India side for four Test matches.

The hosts come into the four Test series, on the back of a poor record against their opponents. In fact, they have gone 15 consecutive Tests without beating India with their last win coming 14 years back in 2002.

The Windies Test fortunes have plummeted since their dominance came to end in the early 1990's and nothing shows this more than the bowling attack set to take the field on Thursday. Having lost Jerome Taylor to retirement and by not picking Kemar Roach, the team will be without a new-ball pair who has taken 252 wickets. And, in their place the men from the Caribbean have arguably their weakest line-up ever in Carlos Brathwaite, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder and Miguel Cummins.

How the hosts fare in the first Test will depend on the performances of Darren Bravo and Marlon Sanmuels who are their key players. If the duo fire then West Indies may just stand a chance of pulling of an upset.

Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli who is the captain of the Indian Test team is a key player for his country Getty

Their opponents India won their last two Test series in the Caribbean in 2006 and 2011 and come into the series as the favourites to complete a hat-trick of series wins. With a batting line-up consisting of Murali Vijay, skipper Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, they will know that putting up runs on the board will not be a problem.

Their bowling too looks fairly settled with spinner R Ashwin expected to lead the attack in what will be spinner friendly conditions. The Chennai born spinner will be looking to improve his overseas figures, where he averages 56.58 per wicket; in contrast at home he averages 20.47 per wicket.

Reports suggest that India may go into this clash with five bowlers, which means that leg-spinner Amit Mishra might get a go and with skipper Kohli focusing on attack. This series might just provide the blueprint of things to come in the future for the Indian team.

Prediction

India to win

Betting Odds (betfair)

  • West Indies to win: 5
  • Draw: 19/10
  • India to win: 8/11

Team News

West Indies

Squad: Jason Holder (c), Kraigg Brathwaite, Devendra Bishoo, Jermaine Blackwood, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Rajendra Chandrika, Roston Chase, Miguel Cummins, Shane Dowrich (wk), Shannon Gabriel, Leon Johnson, Marlon Samuels.

India

Squad: Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Stuart Binny, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Mohammad Shami, Cheteshwar Pujara, Lokesh Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Murali Vijay, Umesh Yadav.

India India cricket West Indies cricket