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Mumbai - Key West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul is racing against time to be fit for the third and final Test against India, starting at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday.
The experienced left-hander, with 9,709 runs in 137 Tests, suffered a calf injury while batting during his team's defeat by an innings and 15 runs in the previous match in Kolkata last week.
"We are monitoring his situation. He is an experienced player and I guess he will know if he could really make it for us on Tuesday, but we have to wait until tomorrow(Tuesday) to decide," West Indies skipper Darren Sammy told reporters on Monday.
Chanderpaul is also the batsman in form, having scored 118 and 47 in the opening Test in New Delhi and 47 in the second match. He is likely to be replaced with Kieran Powell if ruled out of the Test.
Sammy said his team, currently trailing 2-0 in the series, needed to put in a consistent all-round performance to put pressure on India.
"I think once we keep showing the improvement I am quite happy. In the last Test, we scored the highest second-innings total by a West Indian team after following on," said Sammy.
"The team has been playing good cricket, but we have to be more consistent. Throughout the series we have competed, but it is about being consistent with our performances."
The West Indies posted 463 in their second innings in Kolkata, with Darren Bravo scoring a brilliant 136 and Marlon Samuels, Adrian Barath and Kirk Edwards making half-centuries.
"He (Bravo) is one of the guys that the coaching staff thinks is a man for the future. Since he made his Test debut in Sri Lanka (last year) he has been an inspiration to us," said Sammy.
"So far, in the series in Bangladesh (before the India tour) and here he has been a shining star for us. I just hope he makes that number-four position his own for a long time."
Indian spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha have bagged 13 wickets apiece in two Tests, but Sammy said his batsmen had shown improvement against spin on low, slow turning tracks.
"To score 400 in the second innings (in Kolkata) is the evidence that we did play the spinners better. It's about being selective and not letting the bowlers, especially the spinners, dictate to us," he said.
Indian batsman Venkatsai Laxman said his team were keen to wrap up the series 3-0 ahead of next month's tour of Australia.
"We would like to win the Test series 3-0 and that's our target. It's very important to play to our potential," said Laxman, who addressed the media in the absence of skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Dhoni skipped practice on Monday as he was unwell, but is expected to play the Test.
"I think the Australia series is going to be important. It's good that if we go to Australia with a positive mindset and if we play the way we have played in this series it will really help," said Laxman.
"The end result shows we are leading 2-0, but I think the West Indies are a very good side. Their bowling attack is one of the best in world cricket. It's unfortunate people are not rating this West Indian side."
