For the last couple of days, the West Indians have been going through practice sessions in scorching heat at the Brabourne Stadium. Never did it look like they'd waste any opportunity and aimed at quickly getting into the rhythm ahead of the important series against India starting in Kochi on October 8, especially after they suffered humiliating defeats at the hands of the hosts in their last two visits.
However, it didn't seem that they have learnt anything from their recent past. Playing with exactly 11 – Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine are away for CLT20 – the West Indians were not any match to even the second string Indian side as they were convincingly beaten by Manoj Tiwary-led India 'A' in the first warm-up game at the Brabourne Stadium on Friday.
Riding on spinners Amit Mishra's and Karn Sharma's scalps, and opener Unmukt Chand's unbeaten 79, the hosts got the better of the visitors by nine wickets. After skittling out the tourists for 148 inside 39 overs, India 'A' romped home in just 25.3 overs the one-sided encounter.
The few excited spectators, here to see their favourite West Indian stars, in the North Stand had to return home disappointed as the IPL biggies completely looked clueless and struggled against Indian spinners on a brownish surface that aided the slow bowlers.
Mishra (3/26), Sharma (2/27) and Parvez Rasool (1/7) were all over the West Indians after the seamers gave Indians a decent start. Experienced Marlon Samuels was the only West Indian batsman to put up a fight, scoring a 59-ball 56 while Jason Holder (21), Lendl Simmons (12) and Kemar Roach (10) were the others who entered double digits.
Much was expected from the West Indian batting line-up even though they did not have the services of skipper Dwayne Bravo and Dwayne Smith, both doing duty for Chennai Super Kings in the CLT20. The batsmen failed to apply themselves and were found wanting, throwing away their wicket at regular intervals. A weak total could not motivate their bowlers, but credit also goes to the Indian top order who braved the scorching heat besides the West Indian quicks.
Chand, who has struggled to live up to the potential after his Under-19 World Cup stint, did impress the five national selectors, watching from the Cricket Club of India library, with a solid knock. Cautiousness turned into confidence. He displayed some exquisite front foot and back foot drives before going for beautiful pull shots. Chand also stepped out twice to hit offie Samuels for maximum to show his big hitting capabilities.
A disappointed West Indian team chose to avoid the media following their demoralising loss while India 'A' coach Lalchand Rajput said the visitors will bounce back.
"I think when you play international cricket, they will be different. They also don't have four players. Well, you have got to play any game seriously, get some practice when the ball was turning. Having played in the IPL, they know the conditions and I know they will bounce back well," said Rajput.
The West Indies will look to put up an improved performance in the second and final practice game, a day-night affair against the same opponents, at Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
Brief scores: West Indies 148 all out in 38.1 overs (M Samuels 56, J Holder 21; A Mishra 3/26, K Sharma 2/27, P Rasool 1/7) lost to India 'A' 149/1 in 25.3 overs (U Chand 79*, M Vijay 26, K Nair 28*; K Roach 1/28) by 9 wickets
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