A depleted West Indies will be looking to prove their detractors wrong in the opening Test of four against South Africa that begins here on Thursday. Long-standing left-handed batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul walks out on home soil at Bourda Oval leading a West Indies side that has been ravaged by the fallout from the sponsorship row between the West Indies Cricket Board, the West Indies Players' Association and current and previous team sponsors in recent weeks.
Several times in his distinguished career Chanderpaul has shown immense fighting qualities with the bat that will not be out of place now, and should not be lost on a side in which there is no Brian Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, and to a lesser extent Fidel Edwards.
In an era in which West Indies find themselves languishing at the bottom of the ICC Test Championship table, the loss of Lara, Sarwan, Gayle, Bravo and Edwards can be compared to the sort of severe damage that any of the hurricanes that snake through the Caribbean annually would normally leave in their wake.
In the last year, all but Lara signed personal sponsorship contracts that the WICB believes is in direct conflict with its team sponsorship agreement.
The Test affords several borderline players, as well as three newcomers, an opportunity to get their names in the headlines and King hopes they will seize it with some passion and diligence. Among the borderline players given another chance to establish themselves are opener Devon Smith, fellow batsman Daren Ganga, all-rounder Ryan Hinds, along with fast bowlers Daren Powell and Corey Collymore.
WEST INDIES (from): Shivnarine Chanderpaul (captain), Courtney Browne (vice captain), Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Narsingh Deonarine, Daren Ganga, Ryan Hinds, Wavell Hinds, Reon King, Donovon Pagon, Daren Powell, Devon Smith, Dwight Washington.
SOUTH AFRICA (from): Graeme Smith (captain), Nicky Boje (vice captain), Mark Boucher, A.B. de Villiers, Boeta Dippenaar, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Hall, Jacques Kallis, Charl Langeveldt, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Ashwell Prince, Jacques Rudolph, Monde Zondeki. UMPIRES: David Shepherd, Aleem Dar.
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