For India, focus is not to lose track
Antigua, where driving 11 miles on either side brings you to the sea, is so tranquil that apart from the sonorous sound made by tree frogs and crickets together, you hear nothing.
It gives, as India skipper Virat Kohli said on the day of arrival in the Caribbean, a relaxed atmosphere so needed right after the intense Champions Trophy. In a way, this isolation could be a blessing in disguise for the Indian team that had been riven by the coach-captain discord.
Walking through the tiny and unassuming village town of St John’s, you get to know from the ice cream vendor what flavour Sir Viv Richards prefers when he drops in for a shake, and get to know easily where Curtly Ambrose is playing the bass next, and of course the casino he’ll be visiting.
It is quiet with former star cricketers doing their things without making news even though they breathed fire during their playing days.
Current West Indian paceman Alzarri Joseph too comes from one of the villages that makes up the island and although quick, he hasn’t been able to make an impact in the two ODIs and the one-dayers before. He troubled the India U-19s at the junior World Cup, bursting into limelight, and last year scalped Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the Test at Gros Islet.
His shambolic performance here, however, reflects the state West Indies cricket is in. So for a top class side like India, this lack of competition is also a test.
The second ODI looked more like being played at two different levels. India batted superbly whereas West Indies behaved like an associate nation looking to just bat out the overs even though they were just 43.
In such a situation, what is the motivation?
Skipper Virat Kohli says it is about following the processes and the standard they have set . “For us, it is about doing the things we can do right and executing our skills to the best of our potential. Regardless of how the opposition reacts we want to do things right from our point of view, keep putting in the effort every ball, every over we play with the bat, ball, and in the field as well.
“Regardless of what the opposition is doing we like to focus on our strengths.”
This is also an opportunity to sort out weaknesses. The middle order appears brittle and under pressure it cracked in the Champions Trophy final. By handing a chance to Kuldeep Yadav and by pushing Hardik Pandya up the batting order, Kohli made his intentions known.
A 300 total isn’t enough these days, as was proved against Sri Lanka in Champions Trophy. The skipper is already working to set the bar high.
“Kedar and Hardik haven’t got much game time in the past. They are consistently striking every game and more experience they get, then as a middle order group you can begin to go after the bowling early,” says the Indian captain.