India has done away with Anil Kumble on this tour but he is vital to India’s plans, especially on wickets in the Caribbean, feels Michael Holding.
Fans back home would sense that Indians have been a bit lacklustre in the last one week. The bogey of too much cricket would be raised again. After all, Indians have played Pakistan in Pakistan, hosted England at home and been to Abu Dhabi, purely for commercial reasons I must add, and are now in the alien conditions of the Caribbean. It could tire any bunch.
The Indians have been trying to create a bigger squad to cushion the blow but now that they are trailing, it would be interesting to see if a few fresh faces will be seen in the middle. The atmosphere in Trinidad in the last two games could test the best. One can’t help but feel that perhaps, just perhaps, this Indian team has made the mistake of treating this West Indian team lightly.
Everyone acknowledges one-day cricket to be a young man’s game but it’s important to get your mix right. India has done away with Anil Kumble on this tour but he is vital to India’s plans, especially on wickets in the Caribbean where the pitches these days tend to hold and grip the ball. Kumble has experience, is economical and never stops posing difficult questions to the batsmen.
How critical were spinners to West Indies was again underlined by the success of Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels. The key for Gayle is his ability to change the pace of his delivery without any apparent giveaway to the batsmen. It helps him pin down the batsmen. Fans in India would remember Samuels for the exhilarating innings he played in a one-day game four years ago when he took Javagal Srinath to cleaners. He is now showing another facet of his cricket though I do believe he is still some way from doing justice to his enormous talent.
When these two spinners held the two ends up, India needed experience to counter it. The run-outs were foolhardy, especially from somebody with the experience of Mohammad Kaif.
West Indies suddenly is picking up the threads and Ramnaresh Sarwan has begun to show the consistency which fans in the Caribbean have always hoped from him. He is one of the soundest technician in the game today but it is not reflected in his figures. With two straight innings of 98 and 115, one hopes he has turned the corner. It’s about time he did it.
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