West Indies in India (2011)

The West Indies tour India for a 3 Test series and 5 ODIs.

This tour is reminiscent of the series contested between these sides earlier in the year as that was very much a low-profile affair, a series which was perceived as India’s preparation for the sterner challenges awaiting in England. The forthcoming matches are viewed as the appetiser, an examination of India’s young bowling resources, before the main battle commences down under against the Aussies.  Nevertheless, I still think there is the potential for some fantastic cricket over the next month or so.

West Indies faired reasonably well against Bangladesh but the difficulty of that tour pales in comparison to the impending one against India. If this is an examination of how India’s young and inexperienced bowling outfit seizes the opportunities presented in the longer format then it is equally a test to find out whether the WI batsmen can graft and manipulate spin on slow, turning tracks to build an innings.

There will be huge onus on the ever patient Chanderpaul to grit it out and provide stubborn resistance. If WI decide to play freely on natural talent and flair alone, they will get outgunned. Their only hope to get any kind of result is for players like Barath and Bravo to curb their attacking instincts on occasions and stick it out with Chanderpaul. Edwards will also seek to carry on his good form and Samuels is a talented player coming in at 6. They bat relatively deep with Sammy and Baugh at 7 and 8 respectively but the emphasis will be on the top 6 to pile on the runs to give their bowlers something to feel comfortable bowling with against India’s batting strength.

Bishoo will be important to their plans if they are to enjoy any success, especially as the wickets experience more wear and tear. I should think Rampaul’s performances against India earlier in the year should earn him a place ahead of Roach, even if they did select Roach for BAN. I am not sure how conducive the wickets will be to Edwards’ pace and I think a nagging bowler like Sammy may enjoy relatively more success on these characteristically slow wickets.

Sehwag and Gambhir should slot right back in to open at their home ground. I feel slightly for Rahane, averaging 70 in FC cricket and still can’t get a game. I doubt they will play him at 6. Sachin should get his hundredth ton before the Test series is finished so that is an enticing prospect. I’d prefer to see Kohli ahead of Yuvraj but something tells me they will persist with Yuvraj. IMO, Yuvi has been given too many opportunities and he has failed often enough that Kohli warrants selection. It’s obvious that Virat is part of India’s plans for the future so it’s best to get him into the team now when he is clearly in form. His failures in the West Indies seem to have been held against during the England tour and I think his performances of late have atoned for that. His sense of timing, his range of shots, his composure in run-chases, vibrancy in the field and handy enough medium pace all make him the best candidate for me but for some reason they seem adamant on Yuvraj. Maybe it’s because they want a 3rd spinner and Yuvraj can provide that.

It will be interesting to see how the two frontline spinners go. I have always pegged Ashwin as a LO bowler but they probably think his attacking bowling may earn him wickets in Tests too. Ojha had a good time at Surrey and I’m curious to see if he can carry on that form. Sharma has the 2nd most wickets this calendar year behind Ajmal, I believe, so it will be imperative he carries on in that vein after recovering from injury. India seem to be more keen on Yadav given that Aaron only got a game when Yadav got injured so I will be surprised if they decide to hand a Test debut to Aaron.

Let’s also hope that conditions are suitable for play. I’ve been hearing that it can get murky in the mornings and evenings at this time of year. Also hope the pitch holds up, don’t want another abandonment or a game that is adversely affected by the pitch.

To be perfectly honest, I am not at all convinced that West Indies can beat India in a Test match away from home. They will probably draw at least one but it’s likely India, on familiarity with conditions and batting skill alone, should defeat them 2-0. As for the ODIs, I think that the likes of Ashwin and Jadeja will baffle WI with spin and scoring at 5/6 rpo will be too difficult a task for these young guys not accustomed to regularly doing it on these type of wickets. I can see another 5-0 drubbing here. Possibly being a bit too harsh on WI prospects. I might give them a win in the ODIs if Gayle is there lol.

India have done the right thing by playing to their strengths and picking 2 spinners. Would have liked to have seen Aaron getting a shot, anyone from India that can touch 90mph is a God-send really... he seems accurate enough and has a nice inswinger. Looks a good prospect.

Ashwin looks to be more of a limited overs bowler, I agree with what BP has said. Ojha has good shape, and for me, he's more useful than Harbhajan. India's still missing an X-factor bowler. Someone like a Johnson or Steyn or Anderson.

I rate Anderson, he surprised me by how well he did in Australia in the last series when most people pigeonholed him as a new ball bowler, too relient on swinging conditions.

Thanks guys.

Interesting day, fairly even I would say. I don't particularly enjoy watching Chanders bat but he was magnificent today. I think he mainly used his feet aggressively and played his shots because Brathwaite was getting tied up and a lack of runs was building pressure. There wasn't particularly good technique on display from the other batsmen, someone like Bravo will be disappointed in the manner of his dismissal.

Good stuff from the debutants and Ojha. Yadav's reverse swing looks encouraging but I thought that Sharma was disappointing. He started well but tapered off towards the end of the day. Good day in prospect tomorrow, if Chanderpaul goes early then I can see India wrapping up the tail fairly quickly and getting stuck in to build up a healthy lead. Something tells me Chanders is going to take WI close to 400 though.

4 wickets going down quickly, I don't know why but I was sensing this 122/4, a lot depends now on these two and Dhoni, I think Dhoni will play another crucial knock.

Ya right Milky sometimes its better to have a captain who does not think too much. Making someone a captain who thinks too much can bring alot fights with him.

BP they will chase any total even if it is 500, by the way they won't be chasing that much as I guess target to be around 300-350.

No coicedence that the umpiring in all the series without DRS has been really poor! The system needs to be put in place and thank goodness the Aussies have enough sense to use it. It's a shame though that when India come this summer it might not be in place - if a single Indian bemoans about the umpiring then we should send them on a plane home

Windies have collapsed here, going to be hard for them to set ~250, although Chanderpaul is there. Sammy and Rampaul can bat, so they need to muster up another 100 runs from somewhere - 250 will be hard to chase on this wicket and the Windies will thank God they have a decent spinner to play on this wicket. I'm not going to say India are favourites just yet, but at the moment they're not doing too badly! [:/]

Originally posted by BackwardPoint Raj - lol be objective, they are never chasing anything close to 350 on this pitch. I don't care how good their top 7 are. They have to limit WI to something in the region of 250 to 275.

BP Raj has a habit of dreaming. If Windies get 350 (which they wont as already 174/9) they will win. Indian batting lineup is not the same it use to be 2-3 years back.

Sehwag is known for being an absolute flop in the 4th innings. He has already been given a life, but if India win I think it will be down to a Dravid or Dhoni.

Umpring in this match has been severly criticised, esp the lbws in this forum. Unfortunately I was unable to catch live action as I was hell lot busy with work during office hrs. I could manage a little in highlights late in the day, but they don't show the wickets package and don't repeat them over. Whatever little I saw, nothing looked atrocious umpiring w.r.t the lbws.

Edited by MalhotraRaj84 - 08 November 2011 at 7:32pm

A few things, I don't see much of a fuss about the pitch.  Test Cricket is meant to be a test and I welcome the vast variety of pitches.  The pitch wasn't spinning humungously, just that the bounce is not what you expect from an international surface.  I wouldn't say it's a deliberately under prepared pitch either.  Anyone who's been following cricket in India for the last few years will know that Delhi has had one of the poorest pitches in world cricket as far as bounce is concern.  They relaid the surface and it just can't seem to bounce anymore.  As long as pitches don't spin a yard on day one like we saw with Ind vs SA some years ago in Kanpur (or Nagpur, can't remember), then i'm all good.

I don't know what you guys think about Chanderpaul but his fluent batting is because he has a point to prove, he wants to be back in the ODI side.  You can't find a man who badly wants to play Cricket more than Chanderpaul.  He looked really at ease while batting which was very pleasing to see.  His form is back.

And Mystery is right, West Indies do play well against India, be it in the Sub continent or at home.  While I don't expect West Indies to win, I don't expect them to do all that badly either.

Sammy will be a pain for India batsmen as long as the pitches play lowish!  

Originally posted by BackwardPoint Secondly, your point regarding the similarity of Raza and Asnani's decisions is invalid. I watched both happen live and the multiple replays that ensued and the run-out in the Pak/SL match was 100% out but not given. I already established this in the other thread. The Dravid incident today could have gone either way because the bail didn't come out of the groove instantly, bail was camouflaged against Dravid's trousers so it wasn't extremely visible, from one angle it appeared that Dravid's feet were in, it wasn't apparent that the bat was in the air. It was perfectly reasonable to give that not out. To reject DRS on the basis that 3rd umpires sometimes make blunders is ridiculous. It can eliminate the so-called "howler" and contentious decisions can at the very least, be challenged and re-considered in the light of multiple replays, camera angles and other forms of technology. I am not going to discuss whether a system that reduces the number of incorrect decisions should be implemented (it obviously should). What can be discussed is whether the 3rd umpire should act as an individual forming his own opinion and making a ruling based on that or whether he should only over-turn if the decision is very apparently wrong.

I agree the Pak/SL one was clearly out but this one even i was confused so there is no doubt that it was rightly given not out and Raj why are you keeping saying that 2 review are not enough??
its more than enough and yes its ridiculous to reject DRS becuz 3rd umpire made a mistake.