India Eye Maintain No.1 Test Spot in Final Test

Trinidad: India will maintain top spot in the world rankings if they beat West Indies in the fourth test in Trinidad that starts on Thursday.

After Sri Lanka 3-0 cleansweep over Australia, Virat Kohli's men, first above Pakistan in the International Cricket Council rankings

India lead the series 2-0 heading into the final game at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain.

The series was kicked off at Antigua, with the next two matches taking place at Jamaica and Gros Islet. The Indian team is skippered by Virat Kohli, who take the helms in the 5-day format from MS Dhoni in 2014.

India have dominated the series, overcoming the loss of an entire day due to rain to win the third test.

A day was also lost to bad weather in the second match but West Indies on that occasion rescued a draw.

India have shown a willingness to change their line-up to suit the conditions, using 15 players in the first three tests to demonstrate their depth.

Pace bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar was among three players brought in for the third game and justified his inclusion with a brilliant match-winning spell, taking five for 33 in the first innings.

For the West Indies, inconsistency has been a huge problem with most of their batsmen making a decent score here and there but also getting dismissed cheaply as often as not.

Senior batsman Marlon Samuels, has made 51, 37 and 48 and has also gone for one, nought and 12.

At No.3 Darren Bravo, whose respectable test average is almost 40, made only 41 runs in the first two tests before finally enjoying a decent third game with 29 and 59.

Jermaine Blackwood, after a pair in the first test, came good with 62 and 63 in the second test only to fall cheaply again for 20 and one in the third match.

Team news

West Indies (Probable XI): Jason Holder (Capt.), Kraigg Brathwaite, Leon Johnson, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Jermaine Blackwood, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich (wk), Alzarri Joseph, Miguel Cummins, Shannon Gabriel.

India (Probable XI): Virat Kohli (Capt.), Lokesh Rahul, Murali Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma.

Stats & trivia

• India's failure to win the Test will mean Pakistan will become the number-one ranked side for the first time.
• If West Indies win then India drop-down to fourth place, below Cook's men.

Match facts
18-22 August 2016
Start time: 1000 local (1400 GMT, 7.30pm IST)