Review: BANvWI 3rd ODI
Sun, Dec 16, '18
Windies’ eight-wicket loss to Bangladesh in the 3rd ODI on Friday morning means that the Caribbean side’s miserable tour of Asia persists. In what was a colossal opportunity to avenge their loss of the reverse fixture in the Caribbean, the West Indies chose to engage combat without the talented Oshane Thomas. However, the fight did not last long enough to regret that decision, as the hosts got to the measly target of 198 with 69 deliveries to spare.
In the initial stages of the tour of the subcontinent with Holder and Law at the helm, the West Indies made several bemusing decisions, slimming their already meagre chances in several matches before a ball was even bowled. Still, in the absence of both, now under the tutelage of Rovman Powell and Nic Pothas, decisions akin to those made on the Indian tour are still at play.
In this regard, with all due respect to Kemar Roach and the servant he has been to West Indies cricket—in a top cricketing nation, with all things being equal, Oshane Thomas does not miss out while Roach retains his place as a wicket-taking bowler in a series-decider. No one is lamenting Windies’ thought process behind the extra spinner, but instead who paid the consequences for that decision.
In this present case, the West Indies displayed once again that winning is indeed “unnatural” to them. Dare I say, even in the win in the 2nd ODI as the team got into a winning position, the players almost began to—what can only be described as—panic, getting themselves into all sorts of trouble. If we could further recall the 2nd ODI against India; how on earth did the West Indies play themselves out of needing 108 from 101 into tying that match is yet to be clarified. So, when another opportunity presented itself, this time to cop a series victory, ‘there she goes again’—shooting themselves in the foot.
Reality; regardless of his age (which experience could be the only possible reason for his exclusion, as he is arguably above all in the skill department), the Jamaican is a genuine wicket-taker. Was Oshane going to lead the defence of 198? Probably not, but it is the principle of the thing. The West Indies has two diamonds in the rough in Hetmyer and Thomas and instead of moulding them, they are treated as giant sequoias to fire.
Even the blind sees that the pair of Samuels and Bravo at number 3 and 4 lessens the sting of a batting order in ODI cricket heading into the year 2019. As for the myth that Samuels ‘makes up for his slow starts at the back end of his innings’; his overall strike rate of 75.12 is shadowed by his strike rate of 74.83 over the last five years. In fact, if we look at his strike rate of 69.50 since 2016, it indicates that more often than not, he in fact does not ‘make up’ for his slow starts.
Finally, Holder did an interview in ‘The Cricket Monthly’ with espncricinfo and in addressing the cry for him to move up the order, he said; “ideally what I want to be doing is working my way up the order”. He continued; “it’s about scoring a few more half-centuries to get up the order”. In contrast, we have Rovman moving up the order at his “will and nill”.
In the past few years, it has been a feat to split the justice between the players and the decisions-makers of West Indies cricket. However, who do we hold accountable first when the actions taken by those in charge will have a direct outcome on team results before the players even take the field and inevitably fail?
