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Fooled by the slower one
By winning the fifth and final one-dayer against India at Port-of-Spain last Sunday, the West Indies wrapped up the ODI series by an emphatic 4-1 margin.
By winning the fifth and final one-dayer against India at Port-of-Spain last Sunday, the West Indies wrapped up the ODI series by an emphatic 4-1 margin. The tourists had earlier kept their record run of victories while chasing, winning the first ODI at Jamaica — never mind if by a whisker — before losing the script and succumbing to a team that looks like it has got some of the old Caribbean spirit back into their game. Playing his last one-day international on home turf, skipper Brian Lara couldn’t have signed off more spectacularly than with this series win over a side that — till last weekend — was touted as the world’s second best ODI side. So will the WI maintain their winning habit in the Tests as well?
Lara and his boys seem to be taking on an Indian side that has run out of ideas. The Indians have little to cheer about except perhaps Sehwag’s return to form. But for the unexpectedly good performance of their bowlers, they would probably never even have run the hosts close as they did in some of the matches. The vaunted batting line-up was nowhere in sight as batsmen played irresponsibly and threw away games with some desultory batting. Used to playing on slow pitches in the subcontinent, the visitors have obviously been caught unawares by the even slower Caribbean pitches that require batsmen to bat cautiously before hitting their way out of trouble.
The Indians must start believing in themselves if they hope to record their first victory in the Caribbean in 35 years, breaking the jinx of not winning a series in the West Indies since 1971. Tests are a different ball game altogether. India should not overreact to the seam-unfriendly tracks by including too many spinners in the side for the Test series. While spinners can make breakthroughs on turning tracks, it’d still call for fast bowlers to run through the side. Only by checking out such small print can India make this tour a good recce for next year’s World Cup.
