Series Preview: What Will be The Outcome?

There has been much debate among fans about whether the West Indies can come away unscathed from the tour to India which begins in earnest at 11:00 pm (EST) on Tuesday October 8, 2002.

The arguments have been far and wide reaching. For those who have been pessimistic and expecting the worse it is understandable especially after examining touring results of the last five years which showed white washes to Pakistan 3-0 (1997), South Africa 5-0 (1998-99), New Zealand 2-0 (1999-2000),
Australia 5-0 (2000-01), Sri Lanka 3-0 (2001-02), and other losses to England 3-1-0 (2000) and Pakistan 2-1 (2002).

Our only series win overseas being a 1-0 against Zimbabwe (2001). In total we have played 27 matches won 2, drawn 2 and lost a significant 23. These results do not do much to inspire confidence. The question that comes to mind is: Do these results really reflect the state of West Indies cricket or are there other factors that lead to our team performing so much more poorly overseas than they do at home? The debates on these issues are on going and a reasoned conclusion is still with the jury.

But let us realistically assess the present tour to India and attempt to predict the outcome of the upcoming three test matches. Since losing to Pakistan in Sharjah, the West Indies played two home series -- 5 tests against India, winning 2-1 and 2 tests against New Zealand,, losing 1-0.

Several things were noticeable during those two series. The first was that with the exception of the first test against New Zealand, our team totals were not as dismal as they were in the last four years. A few batsmen were beginning to play consistently and responsible, chief amongst these being Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Carl Hooper and Ramnaresh Sarwan which added to flashes of brilliance from Christopher Gayle and Wavell Hinds often led to our posting winning totals.

In the bowling department, Mervyn Dillon finally appeared to be using his god given abilities and Pedro Collins seemed to have improved beyond our wildest expectations. The efforts of Adam Sanford, Cameron Cuffy and Daren Powell in one test also were not unnoticed.

Our biggest problem has been maintaining this discipline abroad. Some pundits have argued that with chief selector Sir Viv Richards touring with the team the discipline will be better. I, however, am not convinced about this as Sir Viv was the coach on the tour to New Zealand in 1999 and we came home down 2-0 in the tests and 7-0 in the one dayers. If the West Indies are to do well in India, it will require much more than Sir Viv's presence.

The loss of Brian Lara will undoubtedly hurt the team but it may be a blessing in disguise. The last time that Lara was unavailable Wavel Hinds used the opportunity to establish himself and took the fight to the Pakistanis, the time is now opportune for him to reassert himself on the flat wickets of the Sub continent. Hinds plays spin well as he has shown against the best that Pakistan and India has thrown at him and I expect him to do just as well on this tour.

Young Sarwan has been the most consistent of the young West Indians and the expectations are for him to come even better on this tour. Like Jimmy Adams (averaging 173.33 from 6 innings with 2 centuries and 2 half centuries) did on our last tour (1994) of India I am expecting Chanderpaul to give a similar performance. The pitches in India will suit his style of batting and he has constantly shown a liking for the Indian bowling.

It appears that Ryan Hinds will replace Lara in the side and if past indicators are anything to go by he will grasp this chance to establish himself in the team with some solid performances. Christopher Gayle and Carl Hooper are well...just who they are. On their day they will destroy any bowling opposition and at they same time, they can disappoint their backers by carelessly giving away their wickets. Of course we can expect Jacobs to do as well or better than Junior Murray did in 1994.

The pace pair of Dillon and Collins are back again and will most likely spearhead the attack. I am still not convinced that Dillon takes his cricket seriously but he could very well prove to be a match winner once he's serious and puts his back into bowling at full throttle.

For me, the jury is still out on Collins, he had a two good home series and is he continues his improvements, the Indian batsmen could be in for a torrid time. The third pacer appears to be Jeremy Lawson; this is second tour with the senior side after being called to replace Reon King in Sri Lanka as a mere 19 year old. He has potential, appears willing to listen and keen to learn. He could steal the thunder from his more illustrious colleagues.

Alhough a lot of supporters (myself included) are not sold on Nagamootoo, it appears that for the first test at least he will get the nod over Samuels, Breeze and Ganga. How he performs then will largely determine if he continues to improve his resume.

On paper, the Indians have one of the most imposing batting sides in world cricket, and on their day could make the best of bowlers chase leather continuously. In Sachin Tendulkar, Raul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Surav Ganguly, they have proven run getters and new boy Sehwag appears to be sensational.

Their achilles heel, however, will be their bowling. Despite having Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh and the reemergence of Srinath, their bowling appears unpenetrative and will be hard pressed to bowl out this West Indies side twice in any of these test matches.

Of all the test playing countries, the West Indies have the best record of any side touring India, winning 14 of their 37 Tests and losing only five. After weighing all the factors, and despite the fact that the West Indies team of the recent past has consistently strived to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory I anticipate a change in fortune on this tour.

The indicators point to a high scoring series, dominated by the batsmen. A series where the bowlers will have to work extremely hard to succeed and with little to show for their efforts. A series of three drawn test matches appears to be the likely outcome of this series.