West Indies are in India for a white-ball cricket tour, which is slated to begin, Covid situation permitting, on Sunday with the first ODI in Ahmedabad. The last time they came here, in 2019-20, the contest was closer than the 2-1 wins for India in the ODI and T20I legs suggest. The visitors arrive with renewed hope of a new direction and better, more consistent results. Much of that stems from the recent 3-2 win over England in a humdinger
West Indies are in India for a white-ball cricket tour, which is slated to begin, Covid situation permitting, on Sunday with the first ODI in Ahmedabad. The last time they came here, in 2019-20, the contest was closer than the 2-1 wins for India in the ODI and T20I legs suggest. The visitors arrive with renewed hope of a new direction and better, more consistent results. Much of that stems from the recent 3-2 win over England in a humdinger of a T20I series with Jason Holder taking four wickets in four balls in the decider. Though largely young and inexperienced, the squad has thrown up performers for almost every crunch situation. Kieron Pollard’s captaincy has copped a fair bit of criticism in the aftermath of a failed T20 World Cup defence, but the England triumph feels like the first step towards recovery at a difficult time of transition.
In a dressing room speech after the England series, Holder said this is “the closest that I’ve felt a group be in a very, very long time.”
With the T20 World Cup barely eight months away, an India tour is a great opportunity for West Indies to test themselves. But playing India in India is never only about bilateral one-upmanship. It also doubles up as a no strings attached exhibition of powerful hitting and clever slog-overs bowling on an individual basis.
IPL franchises will be watching, men with deep pockets eager to hedge their bets on a game changer. Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell—players from the West Indies have left a deep impact on the league. Now that the IPL mega auction happens to coincide with the ODI leg (players are also sometimes signed after the auction), there is always a good chance that a 20-ball fifty or a five-run penultimate over could spark interest. IPL bids are not exactly random these days, but nothing succeeds like recent success and this crop of Caribbean cricketers are aware of that.
The contenders
Take Romario Shepherd for example. A bowling all-rounder, Shepherd hit an unbeaten 44 off 28 balls in the second T20I against England while forging a 72-run ninth wicket stand with Akeal Hosein.
“Eventually, if an IPL contract comes, that would be great for me. I'm not saying that I don't think about it—I do think about it, but I try not to think about it during a game,” said Shepherd, who has registered for the auction at a base price of ₹75 lakh, after the match. “It’s a great platform. For any youngster, it's their dream to go to the IPL and I'm no different. It's something that I've dreamed about for a very long time. My name was in the (auction) for the last three years, so this year I’m looking forward to it.”
Hosein, who hit 44 off 16 balls in the same match, is primarily a left-arm spinner whose T20 economy of 6.38 and powerplay economy of 5.56 across three editions of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) have surely made him a person of interest too. Another player bound to make waves is Rovman Powell who became only the third man to hit a T20I hundred for West Indies during the England series. Not just them, white-ball specialists like Odean Smith, Evin Lewis and Obed McCoy make the Caribbean presence in the IPL auction list a strong one.
Multi-taskers
Over the years, West Indies players in the IPL have come to be known for their all-round ability. The ones who make it to the top are very difficult to let go. Among the current retentions, West Indies top the foreign quota with three players (Narine and Russell for KKR and Pollard for Mumbai Indians) at a time franchises are heavily investing in younger Indians. Not surprisingly, all three are all-rounders.
While miserly bowling is always appreciated, what genuinely separates Caribbean players from other IPL foreign recruits is their batting. Narine is relied upon for opening cameos while Russell and Pollard have upended many calculated slog-over bowling approaches. This time too, West Indies arrived in India riding an unprecedented statistic: They have hit more than 50 sixes in the course of a bilateral series thrice in seven months—58 against Australia, 53 against South Africa (both in July) and 51 against England. No other team has hit 50 sixes in a bilateral series. If West Indies kickstart the India tour on a similar note, it can only sweeten the deal for some of their IPL hopefuls, and present India with another stern test after their botched South African sojourn.
One Subscription.
Get 360° coverage—from daily headlines
to 100 year archives.
Archives
HT App & Website