Slipping West Indies no contest for India in Tests
The last time West Indies toured India in late 2013, Chris Gayle was still playing Test cricket, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Marlon Samuels were middle-order kingpins, and their bowling attack featured a menacing Tino Best.
However, that series will be remembered for the grand farewell to Sachin Tendulkar, who bowed out after a world record 200th Test in Mumbai, and scintillating debuts of Mohammed Shami (11 wickets in two Tests) and Rohit Sharma (288 runs in two Tests with two centuries).
India rebuilt after the Tendulkar era and are currently world No 1 in ICC Test rankings by a considerable margin. But West Indies plunged to fresh lows, failing to recover after each slump.
Gayle played four more Tests before being dropped, Chanderpaul played for another year or so before being shown the door unceremoniously. Samuels, the hero in many tough situations, too could not hold onto his spot. And Best, who enjoyed his duels with Tendulkar, lasted another three Tests.
POOR RECORD
For eighth-ranked West Indies, the impending challenge of a twoTest series against India is monumental. The last time West Indies either won a Test or a series against India was in 2002.
Home or away, since then West Indies have lost 10 out of 19 Tests with nine drawn.
It was in May 2002 in Jamaica that West Indies last defeated India in a Test. The last West Indies victory on Indian soil was in December 1994, when the visitors consisting the likes of Brian Lara, Carl Hooper, Jimmy Adams and Courtney Walsh inflicted a 243-run defeat at Mohali.
Their past, however, highlights West Indies’ overall domination. In 94 Tests between 1948 and 2016, West Indies have won 30 and India 18. As many as 46 Tests have been drawn.
The glory days are way behind West Indies. Lack of talent, a crumbling domestic structure and fondness for T20 cricket have almost decimated their Test side. But time and again, they have surprised stronger teams — such as England at Leeds and Pakistan at Barbados last year — keeping their hopes alive.
NO CARIBBEAN FLAIR
For a team that dominated world cricket for more than two decades, the decline in West Indies flair has been steady.
The team is unrecognisable from the powerhouse that produced Viv Richards, Garry Sobers, Gordon Greenidge, Lara and Chanderpaul and had an assembly line of fast bowlers like Wesley Hall, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall and Curtly Ambrose, to name a few.
A present day West Indies batsman is a natural strokemaker and his style combined with identical techniques of others are more suited for the T20 game — a fact admitted by several current Caribbean players.
None among the current batsmen on tour have an average in the 40s, and in overall 73 Tests this decade, Darren Bravo has been their best batsman with 3,400 runs at 40 in 49 Tests.
Unfortunately for West Indies, Bravo, who has been at loggerheads with the cricket board, is not touring India, having played his last Test in October, 2016.
While there are no menacing fast bowlers in the West Indies ranks anymore, the presence of Kemar Roach and in-form Shannon Gabriel provides some firepower while leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo too holds out hope on slower India pitches.
MUMBAI:
Player Sunil Gavaskar Clive Lloyd M Inns S. Chanderpaul 25 Rahul Dravid Vivian Richards 28 Player Kapil Dev Malcolm Marshall Anil Kumble S Venkataraghavan 23 Andy Roberts 27 28 23 M 25 17 17 14 48 2,749 44 2,344 44 R 2,171 38 1,978 41 1,927 W Eco 89 2.86 76 2.85 74 2.81 68 2.46 67 2.87 Avg 65.45 58.6 63.85 63.8 50.71 Avg 24.89 21.98 29.78 39.47 21.7 HS 100s 50s 236* 242* 140 146 192* SR 52.1 46.1 63.4 96.1 45.2 13 7 7 5 8 7 12 10 13 7 Best 10 for 135 11for89 8 for 196 7 for 102 12 for 121