To Learn or Not to Learn

After a dismal first innings performance with both bat and ball, a miracle was what West Indies needed if they were going to stretch India in the second test at Chennai. Needless to say, miracles do not happen often, and in recent times, the only miracles for the West Indies team have been the Spectacular collapses the batting order contrives to produce, sometimes against the most ordinary bowling.

The overnight partnership between Sarwan and Hinds was critical to West Indies' hopes, and for some time, it seemed as if both young batsmen were putting together a partnership. Both Harbhajan and Kumble were handled competently, though not without a few alarms. In response, the Indian captain Ganguly brought back Zaheer Khan into the attack. The positives in Sarwan's batting have been written about on myriad occasions, but one negative certainly needs to be pointed out, which is that Sarwan does not seem to remember his experiences and learn quickly enough.

Two examples could be given as proof for this assertion. First, even though Anil Kumble trapped him leg before when he went on the backfoot to a flipper, Sarwan has been going on the backfoot time and again to Anil Kumble's quicker delivery. Both in the first innings and in the second, he lived dangerously against Kumble's flipper, although he did play the spinners with distinction overall.

Secondly, when Zaheer Khan was brought back here in the second innings in Chennai, Sarwan was struck more than once on the pad, either trying to play around his pads, or slightly across the line. Any batsman who aspires to be in the top flight of batsmen in international cricket has to learn quickly from his experiences before they result in his downfall. Sadly for West Indian hopes in this test, when Zaheer bowled a perfectly pitched delivery that pitched on leg and straightened, Sarwan played across the line yet again, and found himself plumb in front.

Not only did Sarwan miss a golden opportunity to get his first test century, but the manner of his dismissal also detracted from the merit of his inning. After being very lucky to be adjudged not-out to a catch down the legside, Sarwan hardly put a foot wrong. He played the spinners with complete authority, and in his partnerships with Wavell Hinds and Hooper, the West Indian batsmen, for the first time this series, seemed to have the measure of the Indian bowling.

Ryan Hinds played 89 deliveries in all, but never looked convincing. It may take him a while before he can handle spin of this standard with confidence. The West Indian gameplan may have been to have him completely cut out his shots and support Sarwan, but it was clear that Hinds was not going to be able to do much on his own. After Sarwan's dismissal, Hinds tried to loft a delivery from Harbhajan over mid-on. The ball spun and the resultant catch was gobbled up at cover.

One of the features of Harbhajan's bowling is his ability to follow one wicket with several more. Most batsmen are fairly tentative when they first arrive at the crease, but it still takes a special knack to dismiss them before they are set. After he took Hinds' wicket, with the very next delivery, Harbhajan bowled one to Breese that turned and bounced. Breese turned it off his hips, straight to Ganguly at forward short-leg, and Harbhajan had two wickets in as many deliveries.

Dillon surived the hat-trick ball, but was given out in the same over to an utterly atrocious decision. If the choice were to be between accepting decisions like these and letting technology permeate every aspect of the game, most people associated with the game would choose the latter. The only way to describe the dismissal would be "bat before wicket".

In any event, Dillon's dismissal, along with those after him were mere formalities. Jacobs scratched around as usual, before falling to a very impressive catch behind the wicket. Collins and Lawson did provide some comic relief, but in the end, India were left with a mere 81 to win.

Dillon bowled with some hostility, and Sehwag's batting reminded one that despite his flamboyance and shot-making ability, he will still find that good pace bowling will pose him some problems, especially away from the subcontinent. In this innings however, Sehwag played some scintillating shots. He greeted Breese with the characteristic warmth most Indian batsmen reserve for spin bowlers, by hitting him many rows into the stands for a huge six. Before he could put a quick end to the game, Hooper beat him in the flight and had him stumped.

As if to prove that he could actually hold a catch, Gayle then held an edge off Bangar. None of this made any difference to the outcome, and India won by eight wickets.

This was a deeply demoralising loss for the West Indies, as evidenced by Hooper's statement that the performance was "a shame for a national side". Strong words from the usually unemotional Hooper, but whether any change can be expected after this defeat is the question that begs to be asked.

Though the series has been decided, one hopes that the West Indian team management and selectors learn a few lessons from the two defeats so far. An important one would be to always pick the fastest possible bowlers against India. It is very debatable if India would have scored over 450 if Lawson had played in Mumbai in Cuffy's place. If there were any doubts about whether or not it was a good idea to pick spinners against India, the performances of Nagamootoo and Breese in these two tests should doubtless provide answers. Though Breese did have catches dropped off his bowling, the confidence with which the Indians played him, and the way they approached Lawson, should convince the selectors to include Darren Powell for the final test.

The second lesson would be for the West Indian batsmen to play positively against the spinners. Playing defensively only allowed the spinners get into a groove, and allowed them to bowl with a packed cordon of close-in fieldsmen. On pitches of uncertain behaviour, it is a matter of time before a delivery either keeps low and sneaks through the defense, or bounces higher than expected and takes the glove, enroute to a member of the waiting close-in cordon. The effect of positive batting on the spinners could be readily seen in the partnerships between Wavell Hinds and Sarwan, and then between Sarwan and Hooper.

Regardless of what happens in the India 'A' game, Ryan Hinds is likely to find a question mark against his name for the next test. He showed the application in the second innings, but did not live up to the expectations of a specialist middle order batsman. Breese should make way for Darren Powell, and there is a chance that Gayle may be dropped for Ganga, though the latter has done precious little so far to advance his case.

With the series already lost, and with Jacobs' form with the bat and gloves being terrible and bad, respectively, the West Indies may even consider a strategy of asking Wavell Hinds to keep wicket in place of Jacobs, while bringing in Samuels to strengthen the batting.

The most important thing would be for the team to evaluate the fielding lapses, and to come up with a strategy to counter them. No captain or bowler can execute a plan if catches are not going to be held, and the dropped catches by Wavell Hinds, Gayle, Jacobs and Collins must feature prominently in any discussion about how and why the West Indies lost the 2002 series to India.