(3 days-2 months)X Dravid/Lara=India wins there after 35 years.
This is neither a mathematical first order polynomial nor Professor Deanos’ Match prediction.So let’s work out this equation.
3 days-Three Days of exciting cricket on a Burial Ground in Jamaica which resembled potty pitches in my Local Mullah. On the positive side because India won the series thanks to the Pitch and the Wall and this comes at a time when the whole world was mourning the loss of Brazil and Argentina in QF of World Cup. There was something to cheer about for India this weekend.
2 months-Two months of dull cricket where the players could not excite and the pitches could not inspire.
Rahul Dravid-The man who mattered the most when the win mattered most-stood up as a man among Back street Boys ( Windies ) and Front street boys (India ) because the true quality of his technique came to the fore where others were struggling to make contact between Bat and Ball. The Wall stood tall with his decision to bat and his decision to thrust the attack on the Windies after scoring a meager 200 runs in the first Innings.
Brain Lara-The Magician of Cricket stood in between India and victory on a dust bowl in the second Innings in the second Test at St Lucia. He also stood far in front of the crease to torment our fast Bowlers with his character and not flamboyance for once.
Big boys apart-How the others fared.
*First test-Antigua
India has the habit of collapsing and falling off in every first Innings of all the tours on foreign soil. They strongly came back thanks to the delayed find for India as a long term Opener **Wasim Jaffar with his gritty Innings. The short fall came from the inexperienced bowling save Kumble without fire in their belly
They could not get the wickets of Edwards and Collymore in 10 overs which meant India lost a glorious opportunity of 1-0.
Pros for India-The resilience of Indian Batting
Cons-The Bowling looks depleted when Pathan sulks.
*Second Test-St Lucia
Kaif came of age to score 146 runs in Test Cricket with correction in his approach and technique and **Sehwag blitzed his way to his 1: 10 performance of 180.Dravid stood as rock as always. But what India missed as 2-0 opportunity was the non selection of Harbhajan Singh on this pitch.
Pros for India- Batting shines without blues
Cons-Irfan Pathan hits the rock bottom
*Third Test-St Kitts
Kitten and Mouse game where the young ones Ganga and Samuels piled up along with Sarwan, Gayle and Chanderpaul-Free for all show on a docile wicket. But the rats India crumbled for runs with old warrior **Laxman coming good. Lara declared and sighed relief when Another Calcutta was not enacted because once again India did not have the fire power to decimate after Sehwag departed for a breezy 65.
Pros for India- None
Cons-Yuvraj failing again and again and again.
*Fourth test-Jamaica
*Thanks to the Curators, India won a historic test series win against Windies on their soil after 35 years.
Pros for India-India re invented its fire in Bowling which happens only when the pitch aids
Cons-Time again we do not learn that we need at least two quality Batsman who are technically sound to win Test matches and not stroke makers on such wickets. Tendulkar was sorely missed
Result : 1-0 India and should have been 3-1
Gains and Losses from the Tour
We don’t pick Horses for Courses. The world know that the wickets in West Indies do not aid swing and have become slower and slower. If we need to pick 20 wickets on such pitches we need genuine quick bowlers to rattle wickets now and then. Pathan being a swing bowler had no impact on the tour.If you want to win over enemy, know their weakness. We knew their weakness against spin and failed to use it as a weapon.
Coming to Batting, these wickets are not stroke makers’ paradise and that is why Yuvraj (104) failed and the likes of Dhoni, Gayle and Sehwag (he is a superman on flat dead pitches) did not make merry. The grafters like Jaffar(372) and Dravid (488) have excelled.
The best part of the tour is the learning curve for this team which will be better prepared than many teams for the World Cup after the 3 months stint.As far as Captaincy is concerned-two astute thinkers lead their sides, but could not get more aggressive because of limited resources in both teams.
Thanks for reading.