While the rest of his teammates were joined by a few members of the support staff for a game of football at the start of training on Friday, Marlon Samuels — the oldest and most experienced campaigner — sat on the sidelines.

The veteran was later involved in a few discussions with some of his younger colleagues as Windies prepared for the third ODI against India.

Little impact

Samuels may have hit the headlines in the series opener for having become only the eighth West Indies cricketer to have earned 200 caps. However, he has had little impact with the bat, with scores of 0 and 13 while batting at No. 4 in both games.

Windies head coach Stuart Law, however, firmly backed the seniormost pro in the squad, even elaborating Samuels has been designated a much wider role for the series.

“You can write him off at your own peril. He's one of those players who stands up on big occasions. Every game we play from hereon is a final, and we all know what Marlon can do in the finals,” Law said.

“I've given him a different role on this tour. He is basically here to help the young kids, we have a very inexperienced squad. He needs to help those young guys learn very quickly on the field and he's doing a great job.

“We have all seen young players around him, be it at practice or at the hotel, on the way to the bus. That's a great sign that he is offering his wealth of 201 games to impart on these young fellas.”

While Samuels' lack of runs will be playing on Law's mind, the other big question the coach and proteges will be pondering is how to stop India captain Virat Kohli.

Converting chances

Law underlined the need to convert every chance — Jason Holder dropped Kohli on 40 off debutante Obed McCoy in Visakhapatnam — to restrict the run flow.

“He gave us (a) chance at 40. It was a difficult chance but at this level you take that. The complexion of the game certainly may have been completely different,” Law said.

“He’s a wonderful player. I just love the way he goes about constructing an innings. Looks like he’s working very hard, but he’s doing it very easy. That’s a credit to his preparation, his off-field, his fitness and everything.

“So, we do have plans for him. At the moment, he’s coming up with a lot of good answers, so we’ve just to keep asking questions about his technique and abilities. In the end, he’s only human. But when we get an opportunity, we’ve got to grab hold of it.”