Cricket in the West Indies is no longer what it used to be. It’s a statement often repeated and written by cricket journalists all over the world who were around when the Windies used to intimidate the world in the 1970s and ‘80s with their pace-bowling assembly line.
You don’t even have to go that far back. Even if you are a 1990s kid, you'll remember the gangly duo of Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh bowling in tandem to shivering batsmen at the other end. This was before or after Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul had gone about doing their business with the blade.
A West Indies-India series was probably not as intense as West Indies-vs-Australia or West Indies-vs-England because of the lack of a historic rivalry, but the cricket played was still entertaining. During India’s tour in 2001-’02, the hosts won the five-match Test series 2-1. “Although almost every West Indian made a contribution, there were three stars,” noted Tony Cozier, for Wisden.
Captain Carl Hooper scored 579 runs in the series, showing “the hunger he had always been accused of lacking”. Chanderpaul batted for 25 hours 13 minutes without being dismissed – a Test record – between the Port-of-Spain and Kingston Tests. And fast bowler Mervyn Dillon started slow, but ended up taking 23 wickets. Batsmen Ramnaresh Sarwan and Wavell Hinds, wicketkeeper-batsman Ridley Jacobs, and bowlers Cameron Cuffy and Pedro Collins also tried their best to make up for the retirements of Ambrose and Walsh.
The next time the Indians touched down on the Caribbean isles, in 2006, they registered their first series win against the West Indies in 35 years (after the historic triumph in 1971) and their first major victory outside the subcontinent since beating England in 1986. However, the series was low on action and excitement, with as many as four of the five Tests being drawn.
It was the same story five years later, in 2011, when MS Dhoni’s men won the three-match series 1-0. It could have easily been 2-0, but India settled for a draw in the final Test and chose not to go for a target of 180 off 47 overs, a decision that drew a lot of criticism. It also meant that India are still to win more than one Test in a series in the Caribbean.
Weakest team in ages
The Indians won’t get a better chance to set that record straight than the upcoming 2016 series, comprising four Tests. A young but competent India, led by Virat Kohli and ranked No. 2 in the world, are taking on a side ranked eighth and mostly made up of names you would never have heard of unless you’re a determined follower of Caribbean cricket.
Here then is the 12-man West Indies squad for the four-Test series. Yes, you read that right: that’s just 12 men to choose from for four Tests, and it gets worse.
Jason Holder (captain and bowling all-rounder), Kraigg Brathwaite (vice-captain and batsman), Rajendra Chandrika (batsman), Darren Bravo (batsman), Marlon Samuels (batsman), Jermaine Blackwood (batsman), Roston Chase (batsman), Leon Johnson (batsman), Shane Dowrich (wicketkeeper-batsman), Carlos Brathwaite (all-rounder), Devendra Bishoo (leg spinner), Shannon Gabriel (fast bowler).
The composition of this squad is eight batsmen (including the wicketkeeper), two all-rounders and two bowlers. The West Indies selectors expect just two specialist bowlers – one pacer and one spinner – to take the bulk of 20 Indian wickets, with only seam-bowling all-rounders Carlos Brathwaite and Holder available for support.
There’s no Jerome Taylor, who announced his retirement from Tests just before the squad was announced. There was also no place for left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican and fast bowlers Kemar Roach and Miguel Cummins, all of whom featured in the West Indies’ tour of Australia in December.
Playing for draws?
By picking as many as seven batsmen, it appears the West Indies are banking on them to play for draws. However, it’s clear that this squad was picked before the practice matches of the tour began, as there was no space for Shai Hope, who hit a century against the Indians. Instead, there is 26-year-old Rajesh Chandrika, whose first-class average is 25.46. There are a couple of seemingly good picks in Roston Chase and Leon Johnson, both of whom excelled in the first-class season. But is it enough to beat, or even challenge, India?
The disagreement between the West Indies Cricket Board and its players, which has resulted in the absence of marquee cricketers such as Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo, is well documented. Whatever the reasons, the West Indies Test team has suffered and depreciated in quality to alarming lows in the last decade. From Walsh, Ambrose and Lara, it’s now Gabriel, Bishoo and a man better known as Lara’s cousin and imitator, or the other Bravo. It's sad what it has come down to.
However, have the West Indies missed a trick by not shoring up their bowling attack? If India's renowned batting has one weakness, it's against fast bowling. The Caribbean was once the assembly line of fast, intimidating bowlers. If the West Indies were going for broke anyway, would it perhaps have made sense if they had added a couple of quicks and prepared seaming pitches?
You can’t win a Test match without taking 20 wickets. Seven batsmen, two all-rounders and two specialist bowlers aren’t going to get you those wickets. Be prepared for another series filled with boring draws, unless India’s bowlers perform really well.
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