Kingston: India's tour of the West Indies pits two men of greatness against each other. One, a left-handed virtuoso of 37 years vintage, a pure genius with more than a touch of the prodigal, is in his third stint as captain, hoping to preside over the turnaround that hasn't happened. The other, right-handed and 33, private and intense, a man who has trodden his way to greatness without the helping swig of genius has already overseen a mini renaissance.

Through five ODIs and four Tests, Brian Charles Lara and Rahul Dravid will lead their teams in battle. Two disparate men — who find, in their keen interest and knowledge of their country's cricketing past, one of few similarities — will alternately drag and cajole, inspire and exhort their mates over the next fifty-odd draining days in a series that will be overshadowed by the football World Cup.

The days of banana boats pitching and rolling on whippy waters to deliver cricketers at their port of call has long gone. Travel — even if drawn over a twisting 20 hours in the cloistral confines of an aircraft — has improved in comfort. Yet, Dravid's men will contemplate the tour with some weariness because the schedule to follow is packed.

On the surface, the opportunities the tour accords are immense: the possibility to hammer home recent gains in the one-day format; the chance for a young team, many of whom haven't crossed these seas, to acclimatise and perform in the land of the 2007 World Cup; a similar opening for `Test' men Anil Kumble and V.V.S. Laxman; perhaps most important, a shot at winning India's first Test series in the Caribbean in more than 35 years, and using this to trigger the renewal in the five-day format.

Serious issues

Look closer, and the long shadows cast by two issues on this tour become noticeable. The first pertains to the rap on the knuckles Virender Sehwag received when he — god forbid! — chose to express his views on `sensitive' matters.

The other issue — burnout — has drawn much comment, most of it polarised. Play or someone else will, is the thrust of the board's stand. Former players have suggested they would have gladly played all year. The most rational view sees it for what it is — a problem caused by cramming the fixtures into few months — and suggests a better distribution of games through the year. The move by the ICC to base its Future Tours Programme (FTP) over the next six years instead of the usual five was an ostensible move in this direction. Then the board went and booked a profit-sharing series with the West Indies Cricket Board for One-Day Internationals in August or September, outside the FTP, leaving no one in doubt of its priorities.

India's current tour does have one mitigating factor in terms of scheduling — a holiday in St. Maarten between the second and third Tests. Make that two mitigating factors, for sequencing the Tests after the ODIs, whether by design or accident, will ensure the Test performance remains in memory longer than if it were followed by a one-day romp.

The cricket will be interesting not necessarily because of any allure of brilliance — which both sides can lay claim to — but because of the unknowns thrown in. These sides haven't played each other in an ODI since last August, and in a Test for four years.

Dravid has spoken of the importance of maintaining the level of play through the tour. Easier said than done for a tour of this length forces ebb and flow, spiral and spike. The key for the visitor then is to make sure the good patches coincide with defining, momentum-grabbing moments.

Like most of the stadia across the Caribbean, Team India is a work in progress. The West Indian officials seem to indicate they are a month or two behind schedule; in a little over 50 days we'll know if it's the same with the Indian cricket side.

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