Basseterre: Rahul Dravid has a facility for weighing his words. Rarely does anything unnecessary creep in. When he wants to — and this is often dictated by strategy — he can recede to obliqueness.

"These were two close games, it's one all, and a lot to play for," he said in anticipation of the third of five ODIs. The line has a bit of both: conciseness of word and understatement that discourages further exploration.

For, the first-ever international cricket match here at Warner Park, in a land whose name translates roughly to lower grounds, is itself an exploration. In front of a holiday crowd — Tuesday has been declared one to draw people — the two sides will seek answers.

West Indies will want to know if the victory in the second game was a one-off or the start of something special. India would like to ascertain that it was a one-off, hoping that it is, perhaps, the converse of the pyrrhic victory: the loss that confers the gain of sharpening up.

Will it be any tougher recuperating from a one-run defeat? "Not really," said Dravid. "I mean a defeat is a defeat. We just have to pick ourselves up and not worry too much because worrying never gets you anywhere.

"We have to analyse and see what we can work on. There were some positives we can take out of the (second) game: our bowling up front and our fielding. I think Yuvi (Yuvraj) played an outstanding innings to give us a chance."

Nothing has changed

There is a lot to be learnt from how teams handle defeat. India will not panic said the skipper. There is little need to; nothing has changed drastically. The visitor did some things well even in defeat. Agarkar was exceptional — for a man not known for his consistency, his recent one-day form has betrayed a degree of method and control he wasn't suspected of having.

It is imperative for India that Agarkar sustains it. The tourist needs options when the slog is on, and Munaf Patel bowling length balls while Carlton Baugh is swinging a belligerent bat isn't part of the plot.

Batting niggles persist, especially at the top. Dravid's master class overshadowed them in the first game. Virender Sehwag will know he needs to kick on — though being run out for 22 and being dismissed by a brilliant catch for 12 suggest misfortune, they qualify as starts. India might want to reconsider the No. 3 slot. Irfan Pathan has done incredible things there, and as Dravid pointed out, he's allowed two poor days. But, maybe a shake-up is in order.

One thing that has to be looked at seriously is shot selection, an extravagance of which cost India on Saturday.

Much as self-proclaimed purists like to sneer at the irrelevance of the instant format, this series has been characterised by high-quality captaincy. Which, in turn, has led to some cracking passages of play. The two captains have been tactically tuned in: their battle will be compelling.

"What is good about this West Indies side is we do get into positions to win," said Brian Lara, who has looked so good that runs are a matter of when not if.

"We tend to lose concentration and throw it away. This was a test of character and we stepped it up. So we must try and bottle what happened to use it everywhere. We have a bit of breathing space with it being one all. So, we can go into St. Kitts more positively."

The nature of the pitch will determine the tempo of the contest. Colin Croft, former West Indies fast bowler, expects it to be quicker than Sabina Park. "It will be interesting to see how it plays," said Dravid, when given that bit of information. "That's one of the challenges of playing in different locations abroad."

The teams (from):

India: Rahul Dravid (capt.), Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Venugopala Rao, M.S. Dhoni (wk), Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh, Munaf Patel, R.P. Singh, Sreesanth and Robin Uthappa.

West Indies: Brian Lara (capt.), Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Runako Morton, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Smith, Dwayne Bravo, Carlton Baugh (wk), Fidel Edwards, Jerome Taylor, Corey Collymore and Ian Bradshaw.

Umpires: Asad Rauf (Pakistan) and Steve Bucknor; Third umpire: Billy Doctrove; Match referee: Chris Broad.

Hours of play (IST): 7 p.m. to 10.30 p.m., 11.15 p.m. till close.

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