As the one-day international series against Zimbabwe drew to a close in theCaribbean this weekend, the West Indies team will be turning their attention tothe upcoming five ODIs against their next opponents India.
Fans in the Caribbean know a lot about Dravid, would have seen a bit of Sehwag and at least heard of Yuvraj's recent exploits. Add to those, the hard hitting Dhoni, Kaif, young guns Raina and Powar and you get the idea that the Windies bowling could
As the one-day international series against Zimbabwe drew to a close in theCaribbean this weekend, the West Indies team will be turning their attention tothe upcoming five ODIs against their next opponents India.
This will be a completely different kettle of fish for the Windies. WhileZimbabwe linger at the bottom of both Test and ODI rankings, India have beenproving their worth in both forms of the game, and not just on home soil.
Sure, the Windies have dominated the present series but like this last game,at times Zimbabwe have not been outclassed to the degree you would have expectedconsidering their problems with the availability of their best players forselection. And that is good reason for the Windies fans to be a bit skepticalabout the upcoming contest.
India's batting lineup, even without the injured Sachin Tendulkar, is aformidable one.
Fans in the Caribbean know a lot about captain Rahul Dravid and would haveseen a bit of Virender Sehwag and at least heard of the recent exploits ofYuvraj Singh but add to those, the hard hitting Mahendra Singh Dhoni, MohammedKaif and the two young guns Suresh Raina and Ramesh Powar and you get the ideathat the Windies bowling attack could be thoroughly tested this time around.
Yuvraj has developed tremendously over the last 12 months or so and is nowthe finished article and Raina and Powar look to be two young batsmen goingplaces but Dhoni is a destroyer. He is a powerful man who could make thesecomparatively small West Indies cricket grounds look like indoor arenas andperhaps it would not be a bad idea if they were because if he is not dismissedcheaply, the West Indies Cricket Board could end up with an unusually highequipment bill for lost cricket balls.
It should not be all one-way street where powerful hitting is concernedthough as captain Dravid has acknowledged that the West Indies batting lineup isnot one to be sniffed at. "Any team that has players of the quality ofBrian Charles Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle and Shivnarain Chanderpaul, isgoing to be a serious batting lineup" is how he put it on his arrival withhis team in Jamaica recently and that cannot be denied.
The Windies will have to be a lot more consistent with their performancesthough, it is great to have names on paper but it is the production that counts.
So, perhaps with such strong batting lineups in both teams, it will be theteam that bowls and fields better that will end up in front after the fivegames. The Windies should just be ahead in the fielding stakes with quick surehanded players like Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Ronako Morton and evenChanderpaul from the older brigade in the outfield but the inexperienced bowlerswill have their work cut out.
India's victories in more recent times have come mostly from chasing targetsand one could say that is also going to be the best chance of victory for theWest Indies as well. So you could possibly see the toss in each match attractingmore attention and playing a greater significance than usual.
As for the Test series, different disciplines and possibly differentpersonnel will be involved to a degree for both teams. India have not won a Testseries in the Caribbean since 1971 and have only won three of the 38 they havecontested with 19 drawn, which means they have lost 16.
And while the West Indies will be drawing on past experiences and history toprepare mentally for battle, India will be trying to put those statistics behindthem and concentrate on the present. They certainly have the quality and betterrecent form to get the job done.
PTI