Tony Becca

THE WEST Indies and Pakistan square off in the third and final Test in Karachi tomorrow (tonight local time), and with the home team leading 1-0 after winning the first Test, the visitors need to win this one in order to share the series.

The question is, however, can they do so, and with a number of things stacked against them, the answer is very unlikely.

One of the things stacked against them is the pitch. Of the 38 Test matches played in Karachi's National Stadium, 21 have ended in victories for one side or the other and, of that number, with England winning one which went to the wire in 2000-01, only one has been against Pakistan.

Another thing is that the Karachi pitch is likely to favour spin more than those in Lahore and Multan and despite the hammering he received from captain Brian Lara in Multan, Danish Kaneria is one of the best spin bowlers in the world, and is certainly more experienced than Dave Mohammed.

On top of that, and as brilliant as Christopher Gayle can be, as good as Shivnarine Chanderpaul is, as promising as Dwayne Bravo may be, and as great as Lara is, with Younis Khan at number three, with Mohammad Yousuf at number four, with captain Inzamam-ul-Haq at number five and with Shoaib Malik, Abdul Razzaq and Kamran Akmal following them, Pakistan's batting is somewhat better than that of the West Indies.

Draw

Looking at the pitch and at both teams, the Test match should end in a draw with the batsmen on both teams enjoying themselves. With pacer Umar Gul and spinner Kaneria on one side, however, with pacers Jerome Taylor and Corey Collymore on the other, if the fielders back them up, it could be an interesting contest with, if anything, the odds slightly in favour of the home team to win a match that should end in a draw.

With Pakistan apparently set to go in with the same team as the one which drew the second Test, the big question is whether the West Indies will do likewise or whether they will bring back Ramnaresh Sarwan and return Runako Morton to the bench.

After the bombshell, after the surprise omission of Sarwan for the second Test and the inclusion of Morton, and after the failure of Morton, both with the bat and in the field, it would not be surprising if Sarwan comes back into the team - especially as, despite Morton's relative success when called upon, Sarwan is a much better batsman and a more accomplished batsman.

There can be, at least not now, no comparison between the two batsmen.

Having dropped Sarwan, or rather, having selected Morton over Sarwan for the second Test, however, it just would not be fair to replace him after one match - and especially if he were to be replaced by the man over whom he was selected.

Since he was good enough to be considered over one like Sarwan, since he came into the team not because someone was ill or injured but because he was considered good enough to replace a regular like Sarwan, and especially since he batted only once, justice suggests that Morton, like fast bowler Daren Powell, be given at least another chance to prove himself.

The question however, is this: was Sarwan dropped, was he rested or what?

Listening to the diplomatic Lara, it appears that not even he knows why the one recognised as one of the team's best batsmen, as one of the team's "sure" picks, and the team's vice captain was dropped. And however Lara or any member of the team may describe it, a drop is a drop and Sarwan was dropped.

Talking about the omission of Sarwan before the second Test, Lara had this to say: "It was designed as a drop. I think it was a situation where the best combination was chosen to get a result. We also made another change in dropping Fidel Edwards."

Lara went on to say that it was "a chance for Sarwan to reflect" and that "hopefully he can come back more energetic and more purposeful."

Sarwan praised

Minutes after the match, Lara said: "First of all, let me say that I think Ramnaresh Sarwan is one of the best talents in his generation, in my generation and even the generation before. He is someone that we look forward to having in the future. He is a leader, he is the vice captain of the team and he is someone that we expect a lot from.

"The West Indies did not invest 64 Test matches to have Sarwan sitting down on the side.

"We need him, we need someone like that, mid-20s, going out there and taking control of our team. He would definitely be back, he's strong in character and he is someone who we are all going to enjoy seeing him in the future."

As the captain of the team, there may be times when, instead of talking straight, Lara may need to be diplomatic. This time, however, is certainly not one such time.

A drop is simply a drop. If the omission of Sarwan was not a drop, then no one has ever been dropped.