Published: Jul 05, 2011, 10:23 AM (IST)
Edited: Mar 27, 2014, 02:25 PM (IST)
By Madan Mohan
The third and final Test of the India vs West Indies series starts on Wednesday at Roseau. Umm, beg your pardon? Yeah, I drew a blank too. This is, as far as I understand, the first Test match that will be played on this ground. And it has hosted only four international fixtures, all ODIs, before. So, there may not be much of a home advantage factor involved here, except to the extent that it’s likely to be in keeping with the general character of grounds in the West Indies.
India approached their second innings in a rather conservative fashion in the second Test at Barbados and ended up falling short of a possible win. It would have been the only time in a very, very long time that India had won two matches in a Test series outside the sub continent – barring the 2005 tour to depleted Zimbabwe. India’s Test series-winning or levelling efforts in the past 20 years have all been 1-0 or 1-1 affairs.
This series against the West Indies is a great opportunity to break the barrier, but India have let one chance pass by. They let a similar chance to win more than a Test in an away series slip by at New Zealand in 2009.
If India wants to hold on to their No.1 ranking in Test cricket, they need to show more ambition and aggression. At least against an inexperienced side like the West Indies, a little more risk taking is desirable.
Instead, expect a dull draw at Roseau unless this pitch too is lively, just like Barbados and Kingston. A high-scoring ODI was played here between West Indies and South Africa, though, so don’t get your hopes too high on that front. Additionally, India have quite the knack of grabbing a draw at all costs in the last match of a series. Think Sydney 2004, Oval 2007, Adelaide 2008, Wellington 2009 or Cape Town 2011. A generally miserable away record means India savour even those series which they did not lose. So, an honourable 1-1 result is still too precious to risk losing in the pursuit of a series victory. I repeat, India must silence doubts over their ranking by shedding this ‘drawish’ mentality and show greater intent to attack.
I would not be surprised by changes in the batting line-up. Murali Vijay and Virat Kohli have not made the cut for England and I expect either of them would be benched, come Wednesday. If they do bench either, it is more likely to be Vijay, because he has been given several chances while Kohli is at least seen to bring some energy to the proceedings on the field. It is not often that India are without bowling worries, but they seem pretty close to that now.
The one major bowling headache is one from which the selectors and the team think-tank have generally looked askance: Harbhajan Singh. I fear he may have taken Rahul Dravid’s jestful comparison with Sir Garfield Sobers a bit too seriously, for his batting is more impactful than his bowling and this has been the situation for some time now. It would do no harm to give Amit Mishra another go. But I guess at nearly 29, he is not seen as an option for the future. I assume also that that is totally his fault!
West Indies appear to be sinking deeper into troubles. The axe fell inevitably on Ramnaresh Sarwan, a once fine player now appallingly out of touch. Kieran Powell gets to make his Test debut. The team would, however, take heart from a fighting effort that, for once, did not go in vain. They would have felt crushed to lose after bravely holding on so the result would in a way have been a moral victory for the West Indies. India may just have let some momentum shift the other way on the last day and need to wrest it back and stay in control of the series.
As I write, I cannot help but look forward already to the tour to England later this month. West Indies have shown spirit in spurts but the results have so far been along expected lines in spite of India not nearly impressing as much as would have been expected of them. Perhaps, Roseau will beat expectations and provide a cracking finale to sign off the series on a high note.
(Madan Mohan, a 25-year old CA from Mumbai, is passionate about writing, music and cricket. Writing on cricket is like the icing on the cake.)
