Team spirit in the new and improved West Indies team was no more evident than in the 5th and final ODI on Sunday when they rested key strike bowler Ian Bradshaw, pacer Fidel Edwards, and all-rounder Marlon Samuels, yet went on to defeat India by 19 runs with 2 overs to spare for their 4th successive victory. And a blow to the somewhat depleted West Indies attack came as pacer Corey Collymore, who was expected to contribute his full quota of 10 overs, injured his right ankle in the first over as India started their chase of a moderate 255 runs for a face-saving win, and for all intents and purposes took no further part in the game.

Sporting a new attitude and renewed confidence, the hosts never missed a beat as makeshift opening bowler Wavell Hinds removed opener Robin Uthappa in his first over and then sent back danger man Mahendra Singh Dhoni to set India back on their heels. Such an impressive contribution from a stand-in player is testimony to the resilience and in effect the never-say-die attitude of the new and improved Windies.

It is however much too soon to say whether the transformation of this West Indies team, which according to the ICC is only better than Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, is genuine. The real test comes on Friday when the Test series gets under way at the Antigua Recreation Ground (ARG). Although the home team would be riding on the momentum of a convincing 4-1 ODI series win over the tourists, the odds are still likely to favor India as they go into the first Test match. Not only because of the addition of V.V. S. Laxman, a prolific middle-order batsman, and leg-spinner Anil Kumble — a member of the 500 Test wicket club, but mainly because of their abysmal record of recent times. West Indies have lost 8 of their last 12 Test matches and have won only one of those 12, against Pakistan at Kensington Oval in Barbados last year.

But Brian Lara recently appointed West Indies captain for the third time, who waved goodbye to his hometown ODI audience on Sunday is still very much focused on his Test career.

In fact just prior to his appointment as captain, Lara intimated that he would no longer play in the shorter form of the game and that he would concentrate the remainder of his career on Test matches.

And so despite the fact that he fashioned only one half century in the just concluded ODI series against India, Lara could be expected to lead the team even more emphatically from the front with much greater run production in the Test series.

India urgently needing a boost to their psyche after their shock defeat in the ODI series must be somewhat concerned that the West Indies captain over the years has been quite prolific at the Antigua Recreation Ground, venue for the first Test.

The ARG pitch is excellent for batting and seems to play better as the match progresses. It is there that Lara twice broke the world Test batting record at the ARG, scoring 375 against England in 1994 to surpass Sir Garfield Sobers’ 365 not out made at Sabina Park in Jamaica in 1958, and then hitting a monumental 400 not out against England in 2004 to eclipse Australian opening batsman Matthew Hayden’s 380.

The underdog West Indies team also famously defeated Australia at this ground scoring a world record 418 in the 4th innings to claim the victory in 2003.

But the young inexperienced Windies team will be hard pressed to make a smooth transition in less than a week from the fast paced ODIs to the exacting grind of the Test matches.

Needless to say the young charges would be leaning on the veterans Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Christopher Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan for leadership.

India meanwhile without their little master Sachin Tendulkar, would be looking for significant contributions from skipper Rahul Dravid, along with Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, and Laxman. The considerable bowling responsibilities for the tourists on the true hard pitches in the Caribbean, are likely to be borne by the spin combo of Kumble and Harbajan Singh. In any event the match-ups are intriguing and given the excitement of the games of the past weeks, the teams will once again live up to the hype.