Battling it out with the Windies

Sarwan shines
By ICF Staff
May 24 2006

Eighth-ranked West Indies lead India 2-1 in the 5-match ODI series in the Windies, surprising those who expected it to be a walkover for the world's second-ranked team.

The big talking point going into the series was the record run of victories while chasing, and India kept the record alive by winning the first ODI at Jamaica, albeit by a sliver of a margin in a match that could have gone either way until the last over.

The hapless Windies had recently been blanked by most opposition, even at home, placing them in the company of minnows Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Moreover, the captaincy had controversially gone back to Brian Lara, under whom the Windies has suffered a miserable winning record. Chanderpaul had given up the captaincy voluntarily. There was talk of resentment by many team members against the 37-year old batting great regarded by many in Windies cricket as inordinately self-centered.

Still, it takes time to acclimatize, and the going was expected to be smoother for the rest of the series.

However India have narrowly lost the second and third games, conceding an embarassing 1-2 lead to one of the weakest teams in the world. After all the backslapping over ODI victories at home and in the subcontinent, this is an undignified start in an away series expected to be a breeze.

Mahendra Dhoni, the number 1-ranked ODI batsman in the world and the man at the center of many of India's recent victories, has failed to click. Irfan Pathan looks a shadow of himself away from home, and has been bizarrely played at number 3 even in difficult situations.

Mohammad Kaif and Venugopal Rao, who would not be considered ODI players by their most fervent fans, have dragged down the momentum. Captain Rahul Dravid has been promoted as opener, and has failed two times out of three. Vice-captain Virender Sehwag has failed an equal number of times. Impressive young opener Robin Uthappa has been bafflingly dropped, while the less-than-deserving Rao and Kaif continue to be favored by team management.

In fact, the only reason for India running the Windies close has been the unexpectedly good performance of paceman Ajit Agarkar and spinner Harbhajan Singh, with the rest of the Indian bowlers chipping in as well.

Batting continues to be a worry for India -- upper as well as lower order. They have played either irresponsibly or grafted. Three innings stand out: Dravid's century in the first match, Yuvraj's near-century in the second, and Sehwag's near-century in the third. Apart from those efforts, there has been little to cheer about.

India is now faced with the task of having to win both the remaining matches in order to take the series, and take some confidence into the Tests. The team will have to raise its game considerably to do that over a newly confident and enthusiastic Windies outfit.