Windies Maintain 'Spirit of The Game'
Fri, Oct 25, '02
The one thing to be said in favour of the West Indian cricketers
is they always play cricket in the spirit of the game. In that
sense at least they are the ultimate professionals. It can be said
that they do not always react emotionally on the field as other
teams do. But then they are made like that.
Living in an island must give you a sense of satisfaction about any
calling in life. At least, that is how it seems. How else can we
explain the lack of reaction in the West Indian camp when they came
across the worst laid pitch in much of cricket history at Chepauk
in 1987-88.
One look at the surface then and a layman could predict that
here was the ultimate spinners? paradise. The men from the paradise
islands must have known it the moment they saw it. But they didn?t
protest, didn?t make too many noises over such blatant misuse of
the home advantage.
The virtually unknown Narendra Hirwani shot to world fame with the
best ever figures in a debut Test. Viv Richards and his men knew
they were had on a pitch that was loaded in favour of spin. It was
a bit like putting up a fully loaded gun to the temple - this was
no Russian roulette, each chamber was loaded. The Indians simply
had to press the trigger to shoot down the men from the Caribbean.
??I?ve got a long memory, maan,?? said Richards. The West Indian
response came almost immediately when the Indians came across an
underdone pitch at the Queen?s Park Oval. The venue that is the
best Indians can get in the West Indies was used to send a message.
The variable bounce made the pace bowlers virtual ogres.
It was the Indians? turn to cop it. That day, they may have learnt
a lesson about home advantage. Visible misuse of the ?spin to win?
formula was hardly seen again to that extent in India after the
Chepauk experience that was followed by the defeat in Trinidad.
True, the West Indian batsmen were unequal to the task of playing
the leg breaks of Hirwani then. It did not take them long to bury
that impression of ineffective batting against spin. They stayed
the course on the next tour to win at Mohali and draw the series to
keep a precious unbeaten record intact.
There too the spirit of the game was upheld. On a disappointing
tour, Brian Lara was just about hitting a semblance of form when he
walked. Umpire Venkat did not see it or hear it but Lara began
walking to the pavilion when he was just nine away from a first
Test ton in India. How many modern batsmen would do that?
The horrors of ?76 when Michael Holding was unleashed on the
Indians at the Sabina Park in Jamaica were never to be revisited in
India-West Indies Tests. The nearest anyone could have come to it
again was when Malcolm Marshall went round the wicket and made it
distinctly uncomfortable for the likes of Vengsarkar and
Azharuddin.
But then ?Macho? could bowl like that even in India on the slowest
of pitches as he did at the Green Park in Kanpur when he and his
fellow quicks laid low Indian batting pride on the slowest pitch
imaginable. There was never a hint of intimidation except what
naturally occurs in the cricket ball being bowled fast and furious.
Patrick Patterson had bowled his version of pure pace in the ?87-88
series and must have been disappointed at India managing a draw in
Mumbai when home umpires failed to give Vengsarkar or Arshad Ayub
out caught behind. The home team salvaged a draw and still Richards
would not be drawn into an angry comment.
Richards would not let his anger show in his syndicated column
either. He would just nod his head knowingly and remark that he had
a long memory. It is 31 years since India won a series in the
Caribbean and 19 years since the West Indies won in India. Such a
record is, perhaps, a comment on the state of mind of the modern
cricketer who is still very much a home bird.
The West Indies have not lost a Test series in India since ?79 when
a Packer-less side went down here. More importantly, its cricketers
have never let the spirit of the game down. The Indians have also
responded in similar fashion and this has meant that India-West
Indies cricket has been free of controversy.
That continues into the new millennium when India-West Indies
series is all about cricket rather than issues outside the arena
that inevitably lead to a media overkill.
* R Mohan runs the ClickCricket web site.