Windies of yore, no more!
My first memories of watching the West Indies play was way back in 1989 when the grand-old Doordarshan used to air half-an-hour highlights of India’s tour to the Caribbean. The series began with the five-match ODIs, the first being at Bridgetown, Barbados and rightfully so, the hosts romped home with 50 runs. Desmond Haynes opened with an unbeaten 117 that set the tone for the match and the series and West Indies showcased the gulf between the two sides. There was panache, poise and purpose with the way that team steam-rolled its opposition. The ODIs saw Haynes amassing 337 runs from five games. For India, Dilip Vengsarkar scored 178 from his five outings at a modest average of 35.60.
What was more important was the dominance not just on paper, but on performance too. Led ably by unarguably one of the masters of the game —- Sir Vivian Richards —- West Indies were just too good for India. The ODI rout was followed by the Test series whitewash where Windies showcased the harsh fact that the bridge between the two sides was too wide. If Richie Richardson accrued 619 runs from four Tests, the highest amount of runs his Indian counterpart managed was Sanjay Manjrekar, who scored 200 runs in total in the series. While Kapil Dev did roll his arm over, taking 18 wickets in the Test series, the damage was done.
While the West Indies will sport no flair, no big names as they lock horns with the Indians in the first Test at the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium, it will be interesting to see the approach they employ against a side studded with superstars.The return of Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar to the line-up not just add names, but tons and tons of experience along with run-making ability that was severely missed during their washout in England.
Once again the talk of the impending 100th ton from the bat of Sachin will be raised and that little man will have to be on his toes as always. More importantly, he will want to get the monkey off his back in his own backyard before the tough tour to Australia begins in Decamber. Mahi’s men hit the nets on Friday with the session lasting for about two-and-half hours. The Delhi lads—Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag hit top gear, sending a few soaring from the meat of their blade.
The bowlers were not far behind with the likes of Ishant Sharma Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron sending down a few quick ones, before the spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha and Rahul Sharma too over.
The talk of comparing this West Indies to the team that toured India in the 80s will be sacrilege. But if this side can put up even 10 per cent of what the once-upon-a-great-side did, then their fans back home will be more than pleased.
