West Indies cricket captain Brian Lara and Pakistan captain Inzamam ul-Haq (left) hold the Bank Alfalah Trophy in Lahore yesterday. Lara, Test cricket's most prolific scorer, returns to the scene of his debut for the first match against Pakistan as his side seeks just its third Test victory since 2004. - Reuters

LAHORE, Pakistan (CMC):

Captain Brian Lara said yesterday if his West Indies team could deliver the first solid punches, they would have a good chance of forcing a knockout of Pakistan in the opening Test at the Gaddafi Stadium here today.

"That's what we're going to try to do, get in a couple early blows and see if we can get them under pressure," the 37-year-old said on the eve of the three-match series.

"That would be our aim in this Test match, to get on top early and to stay on top."

The West Indies seem set to be aggressive in their selection with the trio of specialist pacers - Jerome Taylor, Fidel Edwards and Corey Collymore - joined by left-arm wrist spinner Dave Mohammed, included in the final 11.

Pakistan skipper Inzamam ul-Haq admitted he was concerned about the pace and hostility of Edwards and the ever-improving Taylor.

"The specialist fast bowling line-up is good, with two bowlers (who) bowl at 85 miles per hour plus, that's the main thing," Inzamam said.

Inzamam, returning after his ICC ban forced him to miss the Champions Trophy, is himself without his two fastest and most effective bowlers in Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif. Both are missing due to drug bans for taking the steroid, nandrolone.

Headlines

Despite his ban, the flashy Shoaib continues to grab the headlines with reports of a physical altercation with coach Bob Woolmer and other indiscipline, resulting in an instable mood within the Pakistan team.

Since the forfeiture of The Oval Test against England in August, Pakistan cricket has had more challenges off the field.

In contrast, the West Indies camp for once appears settled with few distractions of their own.

Chris Gayle, floored with food poisoning since India, recovered enough to practise yesterday and should take his increasingly important place today.

His underrated off-spin bowling could be as crucial as his belligerent top order batting.

Lara also said that his own injury - which was "a hindrance to my well being" in the Champions Trophy - was gone as was Shivnarine Chanderpaul's stomach bug.

"We are well prepared for this Test match," Lara said as he put to rest suggestions of a tough transition from the one-day mode.

"We knew for a fact that we'd be going on a tour, there would be two months of One-Day Internationals with about four or five days break before our first Test match," Lara explained.

"So the guys have adapted to it very quickly and I expect no sort of excuses when we get out in the middle."

All-rounder Dwayne Bravo, fresh off a tour match century and his maiden ODI ton in the ICC Champions Trophy, gives Lara a five-pronged attack.

But it also means no room again for Runako Morton, and it exposes a rather long tail.

Lara, returning to the scene of his debut match 16 years ago, knows that a lot of responsibility still lies on his shoulders.

He and Shivnarine Chanderpaul are the only two players to have toured Pakistan on the West Indies' previous visit nine years ago.

Batting performances

"The core of the team isn't young. They might be young in age but not in experience," Lara said, identifying vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan, Gayle and Chanderpaul as crucial to ensuring efficient batting performances.

The pitch should also encourage them. Earlier this year, four Pakistani batsmen made centuries in a total of 679 for seven declared against India, whose openers Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid were even more ruthless in adding 410 for the first wicket in a tame draw.

"All in all it looks a decent pitch to start with," Lara said. "But I expect some deterioration and maybe the pitch playing a bit lower and slower later on."

Lara said leg-spinner Danish Kaneria would then begin to play his part but said he was confident Mohammed and Gayle could also make an impact.

TEAMS:

West Indies: Brian Lara (captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan (vice-captain), Chris Gayle, Daren Ganga, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Bravo, Denesh Ramdin, Dave Mohammed, Jerome Taylor, Fidel Edwards, Corey Collymore.

Pakistan: Inzamam ul-Haq (captain), Younis Khan (vice-captain), Imran Farhat, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Nazir, Umar Gul, Danish Kaneria.

Umpires: Simon Taufel (Australia), Asoka de Silva (Sri Lanka).

TV/3rd umpire: Nadeem Ghauri. Reserve umpire: Afzaal Ahmed.

Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (Sri Lanka).