Chappell said: "We felt we needed three pace bowlers. There wasn't a place for a second spin bowler and we knew Veeru (Sehwag) could do a job if required."

He continued: "He (Harbhajan) understands why he's not playing and probably the break will do him good. It's important that he regroups and comes back and I'm sure he will.

"I'm quite confident he'll play in this series at some stage or other but under the conditions we felt the other options were the better ones."

"Conditions weren't easy for batting yesterday. We decided to bat first which in hindsight may not have been the ideal thing to do.

"But I think it was important that we did it and we tried to take control of the game," Chappell explained.

"We've got to get four wickets first but we've got to steel ourselves for a very good batting performance," he added.

Opener Chris Gayle, one of three West Indians to pass fifty, was disappointed to miss out on a century with conditions for batting growing easier as the day wore on.

But he was satisfied with his side's overall position, saying: "It's up to us now to build on this lead and when our turn comes to bowl, try and put the ball in the right areas and get some early wickets."

"There's a lot of responsibility on me. I've been a senior player for quite some time now and it's time to show my class out there. I'm working on my consistency and when I am more consistent, the team will benefit from it."