da supremo： Let us for the moment, keep the farcical end to the largely dullproceedings in the drawn fourth Test aside, think in the largerperspective of the entire series and look ahead
Partab Ramchand15-May-2002Let us for the moment, keep the farcical end to the largely dullproceedings in the drawn fourth Test aside, think in the largerperspective of the entire series and look ahead.The most positive aspect of the contest is that the teams go into thefinal Test at Kingston starting on May 18 at level pegging and witheverything to play for. This is the best scenario for any series. Onlyonce before, in 1976 have these two teams made it to the decider inthe Caribbean all square. Interestingly enough, that Test too wasplayed at Kingston and it is to be hoped that the unhappy aspects ofthat game are not repeated.Looking ahead to the decider, it would appear that the West Indieshave more reasons to be optimistic than India, notwithstanding thefact that the teams are level. Past record and present form are twovery important criteria for analysing prospects. And on past record,there is little doubt that the West Indies hold all the aces.A record of five wins and three draws at Kingston is something thatwill give the home team immense comfort. The pitch at Sabina Park isprobably the fastest and bounciest in the Caribbean and that is boundto be a source of encouragement for their present speed quartet, evenif they are not in the class of their predecessors who bowled WestIndies to victories on this ground in 1962 (twice), 1976, 1983 and1989.On present form, however, there is little to choose between the twoteams. The strengths and weaknesses of the contestants have been alltoo obvious. But if there is the lurking doubt that the momentum builtup by India in drawing the first Test and winning the second is notbeing maintained, it exists with good reason. The ten-wicket defeat atBridgetown and the high-scoring draw at Antigua have raised morequestion marks for the Indian side than for the home team.
© CricInfoAfter the defeat in the third Test, I had written about the lack ofoptions the Indians had even if they wanted to force a change instrategy. The Antigua Test proved this and now with Anil Kumble out ofaction, the team management does have problems on the eve of thedecider.True, India’s main strike bowler in the last decade has not got a veryimpressive record abroad, a fact augmented by his bowling on thepresent tour. But there is little doubt that even when he is nottaking wickets, Kumble’s presence is always a source of inspirationfor his younger teammates. Harbhajan Singh, for one, has made it clearthat he bowls well in tandem with .There is no point in crying over spilt milk though and one has to lookahead. But what can the Indians do to put up a match-winning squad? Dothey retain the line-up of three seam bowlers and one spin bowler,something they have been sticking to since such a quartet pulled offthat notable triumph at Port of Spain? Or do they go in with Harbhajanand Sarandeep with the pace bowlers not exactly covering themselveswith glory in the last two Tests?And what about the batting? Do they retain Shiv Sundar Das who isgoing through a lean patch? Or will they risk opening the batting withWasim Jaffer and Sanjay Bangar?Whichever script they opt for, the question marks are bound to remain.For, the opening duo and the bowling attack have presented the two bigworries for the team management. The success of Ajay Ratra has solvedthe puzzle over the stumper’s slot but there are no immediatesolutions to the two remaining problems.The bowling in particular has worn an emaciated look. The fact thatSachin Tendulkar sent down 34 overs in a Test match innings tells itsown tale. True, this was because Kumble was injured but in its own waythis symbolises the sorry state of the bowling.When the series started, it was said that it was hard to see the WestIndies attack bowl out the strong Indian batting line-up twice in amatch. Well, they have not only done it in one Test, but in two.By comparison, it was reckoned that the Indian bowlers had a betterchance of bowling out the West Indies. But they have done so only atPort-of-Spain and in the bargain the home team have run up totals of501, 394 and 629 for nine declared in the three other Tests.The failure to defend a total of 513 for nine declared shows how limpthe bowling line-up is. The best hope then for Kingston would be tohope that the batting comes good so that the match could at best bedrawn. This is not an impossible task for, notwithstanding thehorrendous run of Tendulkar that has brought him eight runs in hislast four innings, and the shocking double collapse at that jinxedvenue Bridgetown there is little doubt that the batting has risen tothe occasion.
© CricInfoJaffer’s form at the top inspires confidence in whoever his partnermay be at Kingston while Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VenkatsaiLaxman have all played innings of high quality. The success of Ratrameans that India does have some depth in batting.The pitch at Sabina Park will be not be as amiable as the wicket atthe Recreation Ground in Antigua and that is one aspect the Indianbatsmen will have to keep in mind as they approach the all importantgame. After all, a drawn series in the Caribbean will not be a badresult, even if the Indians were installed – quite illogically in myview – as favourites in some circles as they arrived in the WestIndies.