India v. "The Once Mighty" West Indies

During much of the past 35 years or so, a visit to India by a team from the Caribbean was sure to be an exciting prospect.  Giant fearsome pace bowlers, hulking batsmen who belted the ball around, despite a vulnerability to spin, that made their shot making even more breath-taking and electric heeled fielders, who all played with that special Calypso flair.  Sadly the only place to see such West Indian flair these days is to the tune of Bob Marley and Co. while watching a screening of Fire In Babylon.

The reality is that the West Indies have been on a long and abject slide which has seen their overseas Test record become one of the worst in the world, just barely better than Bangladesh's.   In fact, currently the West Indies are playing a two Test series in Bangladesh, and going by the even nature of the contest, it seems they may have a difficult time even beating the subcontinental minnows of the game.

The worse news for Indian fans is that the foolishly immature West Indies Cricket Board, is unlikely to pick Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo, two, current caribbean cricketers who would not have faded into anonymity in the presence of the West Indies greats of the past. 

India are using the series as a preparation for the tour of Australia, which is the real prize.  Victory over the visitors is considered a formality.  If India truly want to use the matches as a rehearsal or practice series for their tour to Australia later in the year, they will be well advised to prepare some bouncy and quick pitches.  It will at least give the Indian batsmen a foretaste of what they may face Down Under.

The selectors seem to be thinking that way too, resting the wily but not very quick Praveen Kumar and dropping Suresh Raina, who has shown that despite a brave effort to overcome his problems, he is still very vulnerable to  short pitched fast bowling aimed between the rib case and helmet.  Further proof is the fact that India have picked three pacers, Ishant, along with the newbies Aaron and Yadav, all capable of bowling above 140 kmph, i.e. seriously quick.

The BCCI has picked three of the big centers of Indian cricket, New Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai to host the West Indians, eventhough in stadia crowds are likely to be sparse for the games.  One hopes that with the right kind of pitches, those who do decide to attend the matches will get some exciting cricket to see, even if it will be a far cry from the heydays of Sobers, Lloyd, Richards, Lara, Hall, Holding, Ambrose and Co.