By Nishad Pai Vaidya
The West Indies bowling attack that troubled the famed Indian batting at Delhi has looked absolutely ordinary in the second Test at Kolkata. In the first Test they bowled in the right channels and used the slow nature of the Delhi track to their advantage and secured a huge lead in the first innings. Coming into the second Test, there were quite a few factors which had gone against the West Indians, but things could have been a little better had they charted out proper strategies before coming onto the field on the first day.
In all the talk about the great West Indian effort in the first innings at Delhi, its forgotten that even in the second innings they had gone about their job decently well. It was only the quality of the Indian batting which held firm and reached the target. They kept Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar quiet for some time and exhibited control while bowling to the two greats. Edwards was getting good reverse swing on the final morning and got the wicket of Dravid with a beauty.
The consistency and discipline shown by the West Indian bowlers during the Delhi Test has disappeared and hasn’t come to the fore in Kolkata. Agreed that the wicket isn’t very bowler friendly, but if you don’t hit the right areas you do not have any chance of succeeding on placid tracks. A disciplined effort may at least present a team with a few opportunities to make inroads.
The absence of Ravi Rampaul hasn’t helped the tourists. Rampaul has evolved into a very good fast bowler who has the zing to pick up wickets and frequently trouble the batsmen. He has bowled quite a few brilliant spells against India as their batsmen haven’t found it easy to face the Trinidad paceman. During the Delhi Test, he bowled well and tricked the Indian batsmen on a number of occasions. The wickets column doesn’t reflect his efforts, but the scalp of Dravid is one he would remember for a long time. It is clear that the West Indies are missing him in the first innings at the Eden Gardens.
Kemar Roach, the replacement for Rampaul, wasn’t able to make an impact. He has conceded runs at a rate of 4.07 per over which has let the pressure off the Indian batsmen. The no balls he bowled were the centre of attention as he had Mahendra Singh Dhoni caught off two of those deliveries. Had he not overstepped on any of those occasions, West Indies would have seen the back of Dhoni quite early and would have limited the Indian score by some margin. In total, he crossed the mark six times which is too many for the liking.
It was surprising to see Darren Sammy share the new ball with Fidel Edwards. Sammy isn’t an attacking bowler and doesn’t have the pace or the movement to trouble the batsmen with the new ball. Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag got the opportunity to play their natural game as they could easily despatch Sammy to the boundary. In his first over, he conceded two boundaries and that helped Sehwag get into his stride. The West Indies captain may have got the wicket of Sehwag, but it was more the batsman’s error than the bowler’s skill which resulted in that event.
Sammy failed as a captain as he didn’t press the issue with smart and tactical bowling changes. His bowlers weren’t able to stop the partnerships and whenever they picked up wickets, Sammy didn’t apply pressure on the Indians by bringing on his strike bowlers. The best example would be when VVS Laxman walked out to bat at the fall of Sachin Tendulkar’s wicket. Sammy persisted with himself and Devendra Bishoo and it allowed Laxman to get his eye in and Dravid to consolidate. Edwards or Roach should have replaced one of them as that would have given them a chance to trouble the new batsman.
Once the two teams returned after the tea break on day one, it was astonishing to see Sammy toss the ball to Marlon Samuels. The same strategy continued for another 15 overs and the Indian batsmen made merry facing Samuels, Sammy and Bishoo. By the time one of the fast bowlers returned to the crease, Dravid was closing in on his hundred and Laxman was well set on 40.
Apart from the mediocre bowling and atrocious decisions, poor fielding added to the tourists’ woes. In the first Test, the fielders backed their bowlers by diving around and saving quite a few runs. The Indians felt the heat because of the pressure put in by the West Indian fielders and that was one of the major factors in their securing the lead. That same intensity was missing in Kolkata as they looked a shadow of the fielding side that graced Feroz Shah Kotla. Quite a few of their diving attempts didn’t bear fruit and they couldn’t bring themselves to top gear.
As a result of the poor West Indian performance in the field, India have amassed 631 on the board and look set to seal the series. Things look very bleak for Sammy’s men going ahead in the Test.
(Nishad Pai Vaidya, a 21-year-old law student, is a club and college-level cricketer. His teachers always complain, “He knows the stats and facts of cricket more than the subjects we teach him.”)