Official Thread : India V/s West Indies Options

[tracknest]

Could this be our best chance to win a series in the Caribean. I guess the answer is yes. The WI is not anymore a force they used to be in 70's ad 80's.

Best of luck team India.

[zashakeel]

Could this be our best chance to win a series in the Caribean. I guess the answer is yes. The WI is not anymore a force they used to be in 70's ad 80's.

Best of luck team India.

The Preview by Siddhartha Vaidyanathan at St Kitts

May 22, 2006


Dwayne Bravo has opened up a series that was supposed to be one-sided © Getty Images


Dwayne Bravo's final-over heroics have got the Caribbean stirring. Suddenly the streets and bars are more abuzz with cricket than with football and there have even been suggestions, albeit prematurely, about the re-emergence of the West Indies. Brian Lara and his boys have shown what they can do. Now, as the teams prepare for the joust at St Kitts, it's a question of who will blink first.

If the entire population of St Kitts and Nevis is packed into the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, the stadium will only be half full. India's third one-day international, to be staged in miniscule Basseterre, will be the first-ever international game at Warner Park and the enthusiasm is so high that Tuesday has been declared a national holiday. Locals still talk about a disappointing day in the late '70s, when a World Series game was washed out. St Kitts is yet to produce an international cricketer but that hasn't diminished the frenzied interest for the contest.

Both sides had a light work-out session on the eve of the match. The practice pitches were a bit slow and damp, something that Bennett King hoped would be rectified soon. Virender Sehwag's two indifferent performances prompted speculation; as did Irfan Pathan's two failures at No.3 and Mahendra Singh Dhoni's position at No.7. None of this is, however, likely to affect Rahul Dravid and Co. India may continue to make changes - both in personnel and in batting strategy - yet panic they won't. You don't win 19 of your last 26 games without possessing a certain mental steel. As far as personnel go Sreesanth may come in for Munaf Patel, while West Indies may replace Jerome Taylor with Corey Colleymore.

One thing they will have to combat is Lara's captaincy, whose leadership proved vital in the climactic stages of the second game. "He showed some courage with the bowling changes," added King, "rotated the field in between overs and kept key fielders in key positions. I enjoy people who take risks and he's someone who does that." Lara will not die wondering; India can expect a few more surprises.

Only two games, of any sort, have been held here before - both when St Kitts took on a visiting Lancashire side. First-innings scores of 197 and 210 don't sound too promising for the batsmen, bringing visions of the second game at Sabina Park, but Bennett King felt differently. "It looks flat and should produce a lot of runs. The short boundaries and beautiful outfield will be conducive for the batsmen." Steadroy Douglas, the chief groundsman, predicts 260. Ramnaresh Sarwan concurred. In the end, they all may be right; or all may be wrong. The beauty lies in the uncertainty.

Teams


West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Runako Morton, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Brian Lara (capt), 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Marlon Samuels, 7 Dwayne Bravo, 8 Carlton Baugh (wk), 9 Ian Bradshaw, 10 Corey Collymore, 11 Fidel Edwards.

India (probable) 1 Rahul Dravid (capt), 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Mohammad Kaif, 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Irfan Pathan, 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Ramesh Powar, 10 Harbhajan Singh, 11 Sreesanth.

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan is staff writer of Cricinfo

© Cricinfo

[balajigade]

At the close of the batting debacle by India in the 3rd one dayer I fail to understand what makes the batsmen take some stupid decisions on the crease. When the team was sitting pretty on a run rate of almost 6 an over what is the necessity to crave for singles which didnot exist. This resulted in 3 run outs, two of which costed dearly. The performance was no better than that of a university level. Only a miracle an save India from a defeat. And the Windies are not Bangladeshis

--Balaji

[desai2rn]

At the close of the batting debacle by India in the 3rd one dayer I fail to understand what makes the batsmen take some stupid decisions on the crease. When the team was sitting pretty on a run rate of almost 6 an over what is the necessity to crave for singles which didnot exist. This resulted in 3 run outs, two of which costed dearly. The performance was no better than that of a university level. Only a miracle an save India from a defeat. And the Windies are not Bangladeshis

--Balaji

I did not get chance to watch, but judging by the score card it seem Indian middle order threw away the match. Three runouts in space of twnety runs after good start is not smart cricket.

Ramesh.

[zashakeel]

[/quote]

I did not get chance to watch, but judging by the score card it seem Indian middle order threw away the match. Three runouts in space of twnety runs after good start is not smart cricket.

Ramesh.
[/quote]




It was a Made-in-Guyana triumph, but given West Indian cricket's recent travails, it might as well have been made in heaven. A magnificent unbeaten 115 from Ramnaresh Sarwan, incidentally playing his 100th ODI, provided the momentum for the pursuit of 246, and a classy half-century from a hamstrung Shivnarine Chanderpaul proved as decisive as West Indies took a 2-1 lead in the five-match series with an impressive four-wicket victory at Basseterre.

As in the two games at Sabina Park, the inaugural international at St Kitts too went down to the final over, bowled by S Sreesanth with six runs still needed. Dwayne Bravo's run out gave India a glimmer of hope, but crucially, Rahul Dravid misfielded the fourth ball, allowing Sarwan a couple where there might not even have been one. The next ball was summarily dismissed to the cover fence, setting the seal on another matchwinning innings from Sarwan, whose 106-run partnership with Chanderpaul made all the difference.

India, though, have no one to blame but themselves, after a batting implosion that saw a paltry 77 runs scored in the final 22 overs. When Brian Lara asked for the final Powerplay, they were cruising at 168 for 2, with Virender Sehwag in sight of three figures, and Mohammad Kaif providing solid support. A total of 300 was plausible, but once Bravo thudded a reverse-swinging yorker into Sehwag's boot, the game started to drift out of India's reach.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni biffed and missed his way to 15 before hesitance between the wickets, and a smart bit of fielding from Gayle, sent him packing. Thereafter, with the ebullience and skill of Yuvraj Singh - ruled out with back spasms - badly missed and with Kaif unable to break out of accumulation mode, it was an eminently forgettable procession. Marlon Samuels and Gayle put the ball on a spot, batsmen were unable to work it into the gaps, and as the field closed in, they compounded their woes with some suicidal dashes between the stumps.



Virender Sehwag led the way with a quickfire 96, but India lost their way badly after he left © Getty Images



It could all have been so different. Having lost Dravid in Ian Bradshaw's opening over, India made all the early running thanks to Sehwag rediscovering his effervescence and Suresh Raina's accomplished cameo. With the bowlers either offering too much width or pitching too full, Sehwag crashed strokes through the offside with impunity, while Raina's off-drives were struck with a panache that recalled a certain Sourav Ganguly in his prime.

Sehwag slashed one six over point of Bradshaw, and followed that with an immense shot over mid-on off Bravo, even as Kaif chipped and ran to turn over the strike. It seemed pretty effortless till the slow bowlers came on, when the gentle tourniquet soon became a choke.

Needing just under five an over, Sarwan walked in with the innings in some disarray after two marginal lbw decisions had taken the sheen off a steady start from Gayle and Samuels, opening for the first time. Samuels was given out to Sreesanth's bowling, and when Agarkar sent back Runako Morton without scoring, 246 looked a long way away.

But Sarwan started with a crashing off-drive off Agarkar and a crisp cut off Sreesanth, and after good fortune directed an inner edge wide of the stumps and down to the fence, he laced a gorgeous cover-drive off a strangely off-colour Irfan Pathan. Desperate to stem the tide, Dravid turned to spin, but while Harbhajan Singh was accurate and economical, Ramesh Powar was targetted from the start. Sarwan twice thumped him over long-on for six, and Gayle then revealed how powerful he could be with an immense stroke that struck the roof.

With options dwindling, Dravid turned back to Agarkar, easily the pick of India's bowlers. When he got Gayle to edge one, and Harbhajan outfoxed Lara, it was certainly game on, but Chanderpaul made light of a muscle strain to caress some lovely shots, including a sensational straight six off Agarkar, en route to a 58-ball 50.

At the other end, Sarwan was just imperious. Having romped to 50 in just 41 balls, he was much more circumspect as the game neared its denouement. Dravid's decision to try Sehwag tilted the match, and also gave Sarwan his century - his third in the one-day game and his first against India - with a precise late cut and two runs scampered to midwicket sparking considerable celebration in the stands. And though Chanderpaul departed soon after, the other Guyanese hero remained to the end. If last Saturday was all about Bravo holding his nerve, this was very much the Sarwan show. Whisper it softly, but the Calypso Kings might just be on the road to recovery. As for India - red-hot favourites to take the series - they find themselves with no margin for error heading into the final two games.


How they were out




India


Rahul Dravid lbw b Bradshaw 0 (1 for 1)
Played all around one that darted back a touch

Suresh Raina b Bradshaw 26 (62 for 2)
Aimed to play on the legside, bowled off the pads

Virender Sehwag lbw Bravo 96 (174 for 3)
Struck in line on the toe by a reverse-swinging yorker. Was a long way down

Mahendra Singh Dhoni run out (Gayle) 15 (211 for 4)
Given out after a direct hit from the bowler. Too close to call

Mohammad Kaif run out (Chanderpaul) 63 (216 for 5)
Short of his ground after Rao had tapped one to short point and set off

Irfan Pathan c and b Samuels 1 (219 for 6)
Return catch looped up after the ball stopped a little

Ramesh Powar b Sarwan 1 (224 for 7)
Bowled round his leg via pad and glove

Venugopal Rao run out (Edwards) 12 (233 for 8)
Sold short after Agarkar had followed his drive onto the stumps at the non-striker's end

Ajit Agarkar c Lara b Bravo 8 (243 for 9)
Mistimed a big hit to midwicket

West Indies


Marlon Samuels lbw Sreesanth 11 (30 for 1)
Struck in front shuffling across. May have been a touch high

Runako Morton lbw Agarkar 0 (31 for 2)
Beaten by movement inwards, but may have missed leg stump

Chris Gayle c Dhoni b Agarkar 40 (116 for 3)
Got the edge after a lazy drive

Brian Lara c Dravid b Harbhajan 5 (131 for 4)
Played for the turn, off the leading edge to slip

Shivnarine Chanderpaul lbw Pathan 58 (237 for 5)
Struck in front by a full toss, was shuffling across

Dwayne Bravo run out (Pathan) 1 (241 for 6)
Stranded after Sarwan stopped halfway through the second run

Dileep Premachandran is features editor of Cricinfo

© Cricinfo

[tracknest]

At the close of the batting debacle by India in the 3rd one dayer I fail to understand what makes the batsmen take some stupid decisions on the crease. When the team was sitting pretty on a run rate of almost 6 an over what is the necessity to crave for singles which didnot exist. This resulted in 3 run outs, two of which costed dearly. The performance was no better than that of a university level. Only a miracle an save India from a defeat. And the Windies are not Bangladeshis

--Balaji

Good comments.

The WI are not a team to loose 2 matches in a row let alone one. Very disappointing performance by the Indian team so far. They need to win the other 2 games comprehensiveley.

[zashakeel]

West Indies have made two changes for the final two one-day internationals against India in Trinidad. Wavell Hinds replaces the injuried Shivnarine Chanderpaul while Sewnarine Chattergoon, a left-hand opener, comes in for Runako Morton.

Scans after the third ODI at Warner Park in St Kitts revealed that Chanderpaul suffered a small hamstring tear to his left leg while batting. Though not available for the ODIs, Chanderpaul will remain with the squad to receive treatment from Stephen Partridge, the team physiotherapist.

Chattergoon made his debut in the recent series against Zimbabwe and replaces Morton who has struggled to cement a spot at the top of the order despite a string of chances. Hinds, meanwhile, has not played for West Indies since the tour of New Zealand in March.

Squad Brian Lara (capt), Chris Gayle, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Wavell Hinds, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Smith, Dwayne Bravo, Carlton Baugh (wk), Corey Collymore, Fidel Edwards, Jerome Taylor, Ian Bradshaw, Dave Mohammed.

[pradeepasrani]

This might touch a raw nerve of those who are responsible for selection of current team but the fact that one of India's best ever one day batsmen, Saurav Ganguly, is cooling his heals at home and proven performers such as Anil Kumble are being continuously ignored, reflects a total obstinacy of mind on the part of those who are involved in the selection process. One can recall umpteen match winning knocks by Saurav in his long career and one can not recall a single innings of note by someone like Venugopal Rao, who seems to be a complete misfit in the one day arena. Similarly when it comes to bowling, surely Kumble can not be such a bad option on slow and low wickets of West Indies compared to some of young pacemen in the team who are out of depth when confronted with attacking batsmenship by opposing batsmen.

More and Co. need to review their selection strategy urgently. There is too much of inexperience in the bowling line up comprising of Munaf, Sreesanth, R.P.Singh, etc. Even Pathan has been pathetic following considerable erosion of pace in his bowling. Both while batting and bowling; he is suddenly looking very very ordinary. Kaif may have two half centuries to his credit but both were very very ordinary innings during which he scratched around for runs and consumed too many deliveries. With Sachin, Sourav and even Laxman missing from this line up, even the batting is looking quite brittle.

There is a dire need to strike a balance between experience and youth.

Pradeep

[tracknest]

If this embarassing loss is not a eye opener then what else could be? Winning 17 one days against depeted sides in your own backyard can never be an yardstick for supremacy in one days.

The fact is that if there is any world cup winner besides Australia then it will be due to good luck on that day or a miraculous perfomance by one individual or heaps of bad luck for the Aussies. No team besides Australia are world cup contenders at this stage.

Pradeep Rasani bhai is correct when he says why is Kumble not played. If Greg Chappell wants to play 5 bowlers then not playing Kumble. your best bowler is a joke.

Greg has shown he is a good coach but not a great one yet. Why in the world play 5 bowlers against a weak side like WI. The batting looks inconsistent at best and even playing 5 bowlers did not assist in getting the series win but now the Indian team is faced with the chance of loosing 4-1.

Wake up team India and the selectors, do not allow your ego to come before the success of the team. Let bygones be bygones and bring back Saurav, Lakshman and Kumble in place of Kaif, RP Siingh and Venugopal.

And why in the world was Munaf patel not allowed to have a reasonalble representation in this one day series???

[pradeepasrani]

Another match against the eighth ranked team and another loss for the third ranked team. The frailities of the Indian team are being increasingly exposed by this rejuvineted West Indian side. Several tactical errors are compounding the misery of Rahul Dravid.

Dravid himself is guilty of a major tactical error by continuing to open when he is not a good "One Day Opener". He has never been good at lofting a cricket ball. He is good at manouvering. His basic instinct is to place the ball down from pace bowlers and not loft them. So when the West Indian bowlers bowl a tight line and length, he is at a loss to score runs since he does not exercise the only oprion available, which is to loft a good length or an over pitched delivery. Chris Gayle demonstrated that by lofting Sreesanth and Pathan. Although Virender perished in the attempt but that's because he did not execute the shot well whereas Rahul never even attempted one and therefore got bogged down. In the recent past Rahul has used lofted shots but only very late in the innings whereas one has to be good at it even as an opener due to initial field restrictions.

Also by his insistance on opening, Dravid is depriving India of experience in the middle overs, which burden is now been singly borne by Yuvraj. Kaif occassionally, actually rarely. I am sure Rahul knows that he is sorely missing Saurav's ability to loft both pace and spin bowlers. No less than Clive Lloyd has commented upon the absence of Laxman in the middle order. As Sanjay Manjrekar said that Laxman's batting is more admired by outsiders than Indians. The idea of promoting youngsters is fine but best teams are those which blend youth with experience. Surely it would not have gone un-noticed by Dravid that apart from himself and Kaif, even Dhoni was reduced to puhsing and prodding.

When it comes to bowling, the limitations of Indian team are even more exposed. Pathan has become a major weakness in the bowling armoury. Whether he is not putting in his 100% or whether he has been sorted out is a moot point. But when the bowling "spearhead" is give only 6 overs out of eligible 10, it is clear that Captain has no confidence in him. This was also the case in the previous match. And someone needs to urgently tell Sreesanth that good bowlers are supposed to demonstrate their capabilities by taking wickets and bowling economically; not by staring at batsmen of the calibre of Gayle and Lara. McGrath used to stare at opposing batsmen but only after he had taken 300 wickets in each form of Cricket and not at the beginning of his career. That only Agarkar has been consistantly successful as a bowler shows the value of experience (Although his batting suggests, that Agarkar is better off as no. 11 in the batting order).

Kumble's absence is sorely being felt. Powar is a poor replacement. Its time for selectors to wake up and recognise the deficiencies and take corrective measures. No point in having an Ostrich like attitude and ignore experience at the cost of winning.

Pradeep

[tracknest]

Another match against the eighth ranked team and another loss for the third ranked team. The frailities of the Indian team are being increasingly exposed by this rejuvineted West Indian side. Several tactical errors are compounding the misery of Rahul Dravid.

Dravid himself is guilty of a major tactical error by continuing to open when he is not a good "One Day Opener". He has never been good at lofting a cricket ball. He is good at manouvering. His basic instinct is to place the ball down from pace bowlers and not loft them. So when the West Indian


And someone needs to urgently tell Sreesanth that good bowlers are supposed to demonstrate their capabilities by taking wickets and bowling economically; not by staring at batsmen of the calibre of Gayle and Lara. McGrath used to stare at opposing batsmen but only after he had taken 300 wickets in each form of Cricket and not at the beginning of his career.

Kumble's absence is sorely being felt. No point in having an Ostrich like attitude and ignore experience at the cost of winning.

Pradeep

Excellent points...you have literally taken the words of my mouth.

[balajigade]

Well, India often faces the problem 'whom to drop?' before the start of a series and ends up with the problem 'whom to take?'. Every one in the team is a good player but the collective effort is far from satisfactory. Sourav had his opportunities, so did Laxman and even Sachin. The former two were dropped keeping in view their poor form and third one has another reason, forunately. I feel Rahul made a tactical error by opening the innings himself, perhaps to accommodate another blower. Earlier he had done it behind the wickets to play an extra bat. The crucial one-down place is being left to the stroke makers like Raina and Pathan who can click only when the wicket is playing good. If Rahul still prefers the opening under the present circumstances, it would be wiser to send Dhoni in the one-down slot. He is a very intelligent cricketer, has the capacity to change the gears and dig-in if required. Further he will have more no. of balls to play. There was no reason for the Indians to loose the 2nd & 3rd ODIs. On slow turning pitches is it an intelligent decision to play two off spinners--Harbhajan & Powar? A genuine left arm spinner would have been more useful at least to check the flow of runs. Yuvraj & Raina ( why the latter was never given a chance to bowl ?) are not the frontline spinners. Sehewag has to remeber that he cannot thrive on predetrmined shots every time. As Gavaskar had pointed out once, an intelligent cricketer is the one who plays the shot in the mind before he meets the ball with his bat.


--Balaji

[desai2rn]

Disappointing performance by Team India to say the least.
The one day series is lost but they need to win the next one to save face and boost the moral and hopefully redeem them selves by winning
test series.

Ramesh

[tracknest]

Over experimentation by Chappell and Dravid is sinking the Indian team. They have gone berserk. How in the world can Irfan and Harbajan be rested in this crunch match where we had to hit the WI team with all our might. It is embarasing that the Indian team is struggling in this match too.

Shressath who has never impressed me bowled as if he is bowling in a Ranji game and VRV Singh is not test class. That leaves Kumble and Patel to get wickets. This is absurd.

Its time someone makes Chappell, David and the selectors accountabale. There are too many questions that require answers

1. Why isnt the coach doing something with the technique of Sewag
2. Why is a class batsman like Laxman under so much pressure when Kaif a complete failure is given numerous chances
3. Why is Chappell and Dravid experimenting without any sane reason
4. Why is the door closed on Ganguly when the Indian team still require him
5. Why is Gautam Gambhir not given more opportunities
6. What is the modus operandi of Kiran More
7. Why isnt the coach correcting the hugh flaw in Dhoni's technique of playing open chested, a flaw that the WI bowlers have spotted

The Indian team has a long way to go in both forms of the game if they dont put their house back in order.

[LEGENDRAFI]

TN ji, the shot that Laxman played yesterday was horrendous and epitomizes his frame of mind at the moment. It seems to me that his fascination with playing ODI Cricket for India is taking its toll on his test match performances. I mean, what was he trying to prove with the slog that he played?
Perhaps, he was trying to show the team management that he can accelearate and play the big shots and therefore should be considered for the shorter version of the game, alas, it didn't worked and it made him look like a kid who has just started his career rather than an experienced pro who has been playing for India for almost 10 years. When your experienced players show such attitude, it's rather difficult to expect much from anybody else.

Sehwag is another case that needs to be done something about. Yes, he enthralls us and provides sheer joy with his strokeplay but when will he realize that 30s and 40s are not enough and he needs to get the big ones specially when he is well set and on top of the bowling. This is where the Aussies are ahead of everyone, their intensity levels never drop and that is why they are the best.

Still, great stuff from Jaffer and thanks to him that we are still in this game.