Edwards wary of India's batting might

Fidel Edwards, the West Indies fast bowler, has singled out Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar as the biggest threats for his side in next week's Test in Kolkata. The pair are the most prolific run-getters in Test cricket, and both played their part in ensuring India's victory in the first Test in Delhi.

"Dravid is probably the most difficult batsman [to bowl to]," Edwards said. "He's known all over the world as 'The Wall'. Back home, I've bowled against him and he's been very good up front. It's very hard to get him out." Earlier this year, during India's tour of the West Indies, Dravid had made a century on a tough track in Jamaica to set up India's Test series win.

Tendulkar became the first batsman to reach the 15,000-run mark in Tests last week during India's successful chase of 276. In the first innings, he had become Edwards' 150th Test victim. "As a youngster, having watched him on television and coming to bowl against him now is a great achievement for me," Edwards said. "And to have got him out as well [is an achievement]. We have to stop him from scoring runs against us."

Despite the loss at the Feroz Shah Kotla, Edwards was not too unhappy with West Indies' performance. "It's [the team atmosphere] been great. We pushed the top Test team so far. We have a very young bunch of players here. For most of the guys this series will be a learning curve. See what Dravid and Sachin did with the bat in the second innings, hopefully we can learn quickly from that."

Edwards also said reverse-swing was one weapon that could hurt the heavyweight India batting line-up. "These guys have been scoring runs all over. They are playing on their home ground. So it's going to be very tough. But once the ball starts to reverse, we can put them under pressure. So if we can get the ball to be reversing as soon as possible, then we can get them out."

In the Kolkata Test, Edwards will reach a milestone that was last reached by a West Indies fast bowler in 1995, by Curtly Ambrose. "This will be my 50th Test and I'm looking to come up with a win and also take some wickets for the team. We are 1-0 down and we need a win to stay alive in this series. I would love to get among the wickets again and help the team to a win so we could leave here level, with all to play for in the last match in Mumbai."