Another Cricket frEAK.

Why India will beat West Indies in the Test Series?

When the Indian team departed for the west Indies tour, I guess, Rahul Dravid and Greg Chappel were having a plan in their mind and that was to have "no plan". Now, it might seems weird that how un professional these guyz could be at times, but if you delve dipper into the issue, probably they were right not to have wasted their energies in making plans against a team which is fighting hard to come out of the shadows of their past. Inspite of having the inpirational presence of the great Brian Lara, this team is nowhere close to the team which was considered invincible once. While, Indian team might not have planned on how to make the mockery of the rank eight team but I believe that Dravid must have seen this as an opportunity to repeat the 1971 act of beating the West Indies in West Indies. And also as a bonus it will give him another boost over Saurav Ganguly because his side managed to win only one test series outside the asia and that too against a depleted Zimbawe. But, whatsoever, a victory over rank eight is always better than beating a rank 9.

Okay, So what are the reasons which makes me think that India can overpower the confident West Indies. Well, there are few.

1) Kumble, The spin Doctor: The picture which comes into your mind is of a bandaged person who insisted on to bowl even after getting a fracture in skull region. He walked into the stadium like a tiger and bowled with the same fire as if nothing has happened. His experience is the only difference between two sides. They have Lara who can any day change the game but, it takes the likes of Kumble to counter the experience of Lara. In the one day series we have seen that how Lara has developed a special liking for the attack of Harbhajan Singh. And Powar has nothing to offer to the spin department. Flight is not going to do you any good in the test matches where the batsmen plays at his liberty as when to attack and when to defend. So Kumble remains the potent weapon in the Dravid's arsenal.

2) Irfan 'the Pathan': He do not ball with pace, but that magical ball which leaves the left handers and bang into the right handers is going to test the top order. He is a wicket taker and is very much effective in short spells. And what else, if he has a bad day with the ball, he will always be there to swing his bat around with much authority. The lack of experience of the West Indian conditions was visible in the one day series, but tests are going to be a different story altogether. He is a kind of guy who is not going to fail always and watch out, he is not going to rest when he knows that all it takes to change the course of the match is just "One Wonder Ball".

3) The Great Wall of India: Rahul Dravid is the kind of player which are not favorite for their playmaking. It's a hard fact that they are loved and liked for their statistics. You can't find a spectator who like Rahul Dravid because of his action in the middle, rather you can find millions who like Dravid for what he did in the past, for what he always does and for what they know he gonna do again and again. Well, the same kind of sentiments prevails among the opposition. He frustrates a spectator (who has a special liking for Sehwag and Dhoni brand of cricket) but then, he also frustrates the opposition bowler and fielders by not offering anything to them. Holding the fort is an art in itself and Rahul need no advice from anybody that how to do that better and better. His determination and grit perfectly symbolizes the name tag that he has earned for himself. The great wall of India is here and Brian Lara must be dreaming about strategies for making a hole into wall.

4) Firebrand Cricket, Sehwag, Dhoni and Yuvraj: Call it firebrand cricket or 'Fatafat' cricket, doesn't matter. The fact is that these people are crowd pullers and even if one of the three clicks, it's enough. Watching them sloggin the ball hard and throwing everything to the ball can irritate an ardent Dravid's or Laxman's Fan but, they are there. it doesn't matter that how many critics call them wreckless and brand them as careless shot makers, they are not going to give a damn. They will play like they always play and believe me, they play like that's the only possible approach to this game. Sehwag likeness for the fast ball can come in handy and if he could get a few well timed shot going early in the innings then god save West Indies! Dhoni can chip in with some useful contribution in the middle and most often he will get a chance to partner with Yuvraj or Pathan and these partnerships coould well decide the target for West Indies. Yuvi is on a golden run and he could well justify his test cap that he has earned only recently.

Apart from these, Laxman and Wasim Jafar adds to the batting strength. So, if India is to beat West Indies then this is their best chance. West Indies team has got nothing to loose, so most probably they are up on the learning curve and their team will get better in the future also attributed to the rising level of confidence. However, If Indian fails to do it here then probably the defeat will dent into their confidence level and perhaps also into the rankings. Well, let's see what these wise guys have it in their mind.

posted by Raj @ 11:56 AM