Test of cricket India, Windies face contrasting challenges
We are expecting a grass cover but we are also prepared keeping in mind that some of the wickets will slow down as the game progresses. So we have been aware of that and have prepared accordingly.
on the wane in this part of the world. “It’s also about the insularity of cricket nowadays. One can’t justify many of the decisions, like why Denesh Ramdin was kept out of this squad,” said Richards, a self-confessed fan of Amitabh Bachchan movies like Sholay and Silsila. He tried to sugarcoat the reality with a promise that people would come to watch the Test ‘at the last moment’. The reality at grassroots seems no different. Belonging to an era when a Calypso was penned in Sunil Gavaskar’s name, Richards doesn’t want to give up believing that Test cricket can still wield a special charm in Antigua and the rest of the West Indies. But he didn’t overlook the obvious too. “Everything needs an overhaul, big time.”
Till that happens, Test cricket in the West
Indies might have to endure a few more years of obscurity. S LAHA ST JOHN’S (ANTIGUA): India’s Test ranking has long been based on their formidable home form but the side will aim to impress new coach Anil Kumble by showing they can adapt to conditions outside the subcontinent in a fourTest series against West Indies starting in Antigua on Thursday.
For the hosts, however, the task is more straightforward -- simply proving they can still be competitive in the long form of the game.
Since last touring West Indies in 2011, when they ground out a 1-0 test series victory (with two draws), India have lost six consecutive series outside of Asia - two each in England and Australia and one each in South Africa and New Zealand.
Their record in that time is one win, 15 defeats and five draws. That does not include a 2-1 series victory in nearby Sri Lanka last year, where conditions are typically similar to those encountered at home.
Coach Kumble was recently appointed head coach of the Indians, who are second behind Australia in the test rankings, after pitching a plan to fix that miserable away record.
And while he has already moved to tighten discipline, introducing a fine of $50 for being late, he shies away from being branded a strict disciplinarian.
“All I know I am a cricket coach and whether I am strict or lenient, you will probably have to ask the team,” he said recently.
Kumble could hardly ask for a better chance to start the job SANJAY BANGAR, India batting coach on a winning note than against a West Indies team weakened by administrative conflict and the unavailability of several key players, with fast bowler Jerome Taylor the latest to retire from the test format.
While West Indies excel in the Twenty20 format, they are eighth of nine nations in the test rankings, ahead only of minnows Bangladesh.
PATIENCE KEY
Kumble has stressed his team must demonstrate patience throughout the series, a sentiment shared by West Indies allrounder Carlos Brathwaite.
“We expect to face a lot of spin against the Indians in this series, so it is about playing the waiting game,” said Brathwaite.
“We need to look to spend long periods at the crease so we are preaching that in the dressing room.”
After the first Test in Antigua, the remaining Tests will be played in Jamaica (July 30Aug. 3), St Lucia (Aug. 9-13) and Trinidad (Aug. 18-22).