Beleaguered West Indies seem headed for a humiliating rout
Can it be said that the Indian victory in the first Test by an innings and 112 runs in about three and a half days is a trendsetter for the series
Partab Ramchand
06-Jul-2005
Can it be said that the Indian victory in the first Test by an
innings and 112 runs in about three and a half days is a
trendsetter for the series? From the West Indian point of view,
one fears it could well be. There was little in their showing at
the Wankhede stadium to suggest that they could avoid an Indian
clean sweep in the three-match series, let alone turn things
around.
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The 1978-79 side, bereft as it was of the Packer stars, still had
a few things going for them. They had a batsman (Bacchus) capable
of battling it out for 8-1/2 hours to score 250 and another
(Kallicharran) capable of hitting 187. The captain scored 538
runs in the series while Sylvester Clarke got 21 wickets. The
side took the first innings lead in three successive Tests,
avoided defeat in five of the six Tests and notched up totals of
493, 437, 327 and 452 for eight.
One cannot see any player in the current side notch up figures
even half as impressive (considering it is a three-Test series).
It is also highly improbable that Carl Hooper's squad will avoid
defeats in the remaining two Tests. Already, there are visions of
a repeat of the whitewash the Indians inflicted on England in
1992-93 and Sri Lanka the following season and not without
reason.
One does not wish to be over critical of this West Indian side
that has severe limitations. The fact that this is West Indies'
24th loss in 28 away Tests in the last five years is a tell-tale
sign of how they have flopped repeatedly while playing outside
the Caribbean islands. In the sub-continent, in particular, the
West Indies have an abysmal record, having lost all three Tests
to Pakistan in 1997 and then having suffered a similar loss in
Sri Lanka last year. Now they seem clearly headed for another
such humiliating rout in India.
Indian spinners have always done well against the West Indies.
From Subash Gupte in the fifties to the spin quartet in the
sixties and seventies, from a 19-year-old debutant leg spinner in
Narendra Hirwani in the eighties to Anil Kumble and Venkatpathi
Raju in the nineties, the best of the West Indian batsmen have
faltered against Indian spin. Given this background, it is
perhaps too much to expect the current West Indian side to get
the better of Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.
Even when they are on the attack, the batsmen look vulnerable.
They do not give the impression of having the bowling at their
mercy like a Clive Lloyd or Vivian Richards did. For example,
even when Wavell Hinds was going hammer and tongs at the bowling
in the second innings, it always looked like his tenure at the
crease would be cut short and sure enough, he was foxed by
Harbhajan.
This side obviously depends heavily on Hooper and Chanderpaul.
The rest of the batsmen look good enough for 30s and 40s and that
is not enough to deter the Indians. Moreover, Kumble and
Harbhajan have already got a psychological hold over the visiting
batsmen and they are not bowlers who will let the advantage slip.
Which is indeed what the Indian team itself will have to do. The
home side is infinitely stronger in all departments and it is
important that a sense of complacency does not creep in. If the
bowlers have the West Indian batsmen in a stranglehold, the
batsmen have also won the psychological battle.
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To complete the lamentable picture, the West Indians cut a sorry
figure in the field. One lost count of the dropped catches and
the sloppy misfielding. With the batting, bowling and fielding in
a shambles, the West Indies will have to bring about a
metamorphosis in their play to engineer a turnabout. And to be
candid, this side does not have it in them to work such miracles.