Clean Sweep In The West Indies

India won the Twenty20, ODI and Test series though not without significant resistance from the West Indies, who put up a spirited performance for the most part on their home turf.

In the final analysis, India dominated the West Indies in all three formats of the the game, though not to the extent that many Indian fans would have expected.  There were however legitimate reasons for this, especially in the Test matches.

Not the least of the reasons was West Indies' excellent record against subcontinental teams on home turf.  It is one of the quirks of Test cricket that the first subcontinental team, and so far only one, to win more than a solitary Test in a series in the West Indies are Bangladesh, who won both matches in 2009.  Of course, the West Indies team that played in that series would make the current squad look like Clive Lloyd's bunch.  Another factor was the weather, which robbed the series of nearly two days play in each and every match.  Yet in all three matches, India were within sight of victory, though they only were able to press home the advantage in Jamaica.  Finally, credit must be given to the West Indies team, and especially their bowlers who kept India's vaunted batting in check, though in the third Test, the West Indies batting also finally came good with the debutant Kirk Edwards and the most highly capped of all West Indians, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, putting their hands up to rescue their side from dire straits.

The biggest positives for India from the series were the return to peak form of Ishant Sharma who was adjudged man of the series for his 22 wickets for under 17 runs each, and the blooding of Praveen Kumar, who with his ability to swing the ball both ways gives the Indian pace attack an added dimension.  The negatives for India however were the failure of its young batsmen.  Only Suresh Raina among the newbies showed sufficient technique and resolve to battle it out on helpful wickets, against some very decent pace and spin bowling.

The one aspect of the series that was also very heartening to see, though not much commented on, was the excellent camaraderie between the two sides.  There was some hard cricket played out in the middle with batsmen on both sides copping a few on the helmet, but the overall mood was one of a hard but sporting contest.  The way the Indian players all warmly congratulated young Edwards on his debut hundred, as well as the way no tantrums were thrown by the West Indies when a few iffy decisions went against them, were examples of this bonhomie.  If anything the only real sourness was between a certain umpire and the Indian captain.  However this was thankfully minimized when the umpire in question bowed out of the series.

One suspects that the next series India plays will be a much more acrimonious and mean-spirited.  With the fading away of Australia in the Test arena on the back of an Ashes defeat at home and India's prolonged reign at the top spot never being fully accepted by many in the English press, the contest for dominance is likely to be fierce.  The opposition of the BCCI to Hawkeye, will only add further to the contentious atmosphere, as the technology will likely still be available to the broadcast media, but not the review umpire.  Bring on the jelly beans...