Gaji
Sachin Tendulkar's offer for his 100th international century will be the focus of concentration when India hosts West Indies in the first Test at Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla on Sunday.
Tendulkar has been on the brink of the extraordinary and historic highlight since March when he hit a century in an ICC World Cup win over South Africa.
The 38-year-old has, however, been forced to wait to reach the landmark due to poor form and injury after an unmemorable tour of England when his side failed to win an international match.
Tendulkar failed to bring up three figures in four Tests on the tour before a toe wound forced him home in front of time at the start of the one-day international series.
The 'Little Master' has since healthier and will be fully predictable to complete the feat on home soil against a West Indies team who record a rare away series win in Bangladesh last month.
West Indies coach Ottis Gibson is confident the hysteria around Tendulkar may sidetrack India - who play Test cricket for the first time since being whitewashed 4-0 in England - even though he admits he expect the veteran to reach the mark during the three-match series.
"I feel if there is too much hype, it would be tough for Tendulkar," Gibson said after a practice session at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Friday. "But Tendulkar is a fable and he would get it anyway any time soon."
India will be looking to bounce back from their humbling in England, which saw them lose the number one Test ranking, and have made a number of changes to their squad.
Veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh has been axed with R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha and Rahul Sharma to take over the spin duties.
Zaheer Khan is also not yet fit meaning the hosts will look to the future of their pace bowling with the uncapped Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav selected.
Their inclusions are significant ahead of the winter tour to Australia - when the quicks will be relied upon - and batsman VVS Laxman admits the series will be important as they look to get back to winning ways ahead of that tour.
"It's going to be an important series - especially after the dismal time we had in England," he said. "We want to come back strongly and regain the top position.
"Hopefully, the Test team will start off the season on a winning note so that we will be high on confidence before leaving for Australia."
West Indies coach Gibson believes his side's hopes of backing up their 1-0 series win in Bangladesh will fall on their pacemen.
While the pitches in India are likely to favour the spinners, Gibson - a former West Indies quick - believes his fast men hold the key to success.
"Over the last six to 12 months our fast bowlers, Ravi Rampaul, Fidel Edwards, Kemar Roach and Darren Sammy have done well and won us matches," Gibson said.
"We know that India obviously will be heavy on spin but we believe in the quality of our fast bowlers.
"We believe that we have the quality to back ourselves. We know that the ball doesn't swing very long. You need to have added skills and we pay a lot of attention to that.
"We are skilled enough to reverse it and get wickets as well."
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