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by Manoj Vatsyayana

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Wednesday, (AFP) - The first Test starting at Bourda here on Thursday will pit the travel-sick Indian tourists against a West Indian team wallowing in an unaccustomed slump in form.

India are formidable at home and fragile abroad, having failed to win a Test series outside the sub-continent since 1986 when they beat England under Kapil Dev's captaincy.

The West Indies have also been shedding their prowess of late and are without a win in their past five Tests. They were blanked 3-0 in Sri Lanka and then 2-0 by Pakistan at Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.

West Indies skipper Carl Hooper said he did not believe India's dismal away record would give his team an advantage. Struggled overseas

"We're not at a stage where we can take any series easy. We've also struggled overseas. We can't afford to be complacent playing at home.

"Each match of a Test series is important for us. All we want is that the West Indies does well," said Hooper.

The presence of a batting genius in each side -- Brian Lara for the West Indies and Sachin Tendulkar for India -- has not been enough to improve the teams' away Test records.

The left-handed Lara made 688 in Sri Lanka to become the second-highest scorer in a three-Test series after Englishman Graham Gooch's 752 against India in 1990, but could not prevent his team from losing the series.

He missed his team's next Test series against Pakistan due to an elbow injury, sustained in a one-day international in Sri Lanka. Big total

Hooper said Lara's return to the squad augured well as the West Indies look to put pressure on India by piling up a big total.

"It's great to have Lara back in the team. He's the key batsman," he said.

India's problems begin when they step away from home where spinner-friendly pitches and crowd support spur them on to do the unexpected, like a 2-1 win over Steve Waugh's Australians last year.

When denied such luxuries abroad, India just fail to deliver despite having one of the best batsmen in Tendulkar.

"Tendulkar is a world-class player. He's going to have his days, but we have to see he doesn't score many," said Hooper.

Indian preparations for the Test received a blow on Sunday when their top off-spinner Harbhajan Singh injured his shoulder while throwing from the deep in a three-day fixture. Singh in squad

Fellow-spinner Sarandeep Singh has joined the squad in case Harbhajan is ruled out of the Test.

"The final decision on Harbhajan will be taken after a fitness test before the match," said Indian manager Gautam Dasgupta.

The West Indies are planning to counter the Indian batting with pace, having included four fast bowlers in their team.

But pace, the trump card of West Indian teams in the past, has also lost much of its threat after the retirements of Curtly Ambrose in 2000 and Courtney Walsh last year.

"We've picked four fast bowlers and one spinner, but will assess the conditions before deciding whether to play with four or three pacemen," said Hooper. 

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