India’s tour of the Caribbean: A story of misses than plusses

Virat Kohli and Murali Vijay were monumental failures.

By Dhananjay Devasper

The Caribbean Test series has ended with India winning 1-0. It’s a scoreline that will please no one in India. This team, though second string, was expected to decimate an opposition whose cricketing fortunes is on the wane. The 1-0 result does little credit to the tag of the No. 1 Test team that India wears.

The series was a golden opportunity for the young and the restless. Sadly, only Suresh Raina, Kirk Edwards and Ishant Sharma made best use of the chances they got. Virat Kohli and Murali Vijay were monumental failures. Kohli must be ruing his luck at the umpiring blunders, but throughout the Test series he didn’t look his normal, comfortable self. Vijay, on the other hand, continues to fritter away the numerous opportunities that have come his way. He might now just be relegated to playing the IPL, since his technique and batting are clearly suspect against quality bowlers, especially on overseas tracks.

The bowlers too did not have a great outing. Other than Ravi Rampaul, Fidel Edwards and Ishant Sharma, no one was impressive or even threatening, to say the least. Though both teams posted far too many sub-300 totals, it was more due to lack of technique and temperament by the batsmen than quality bowling.

India also wasted an opportunity to go for the jugular, in the third Test. Chasing 180 to win in the last session, India opted for a draw. Champion teams do not back off when you can destroy an opponent. With about 20 overs to go, Dhoni should have promoted himself than send VVS Laxman. That would have sent a clear message of the aggressive intent and that India were going for the target. Another wicket would not have done too much damage as Dravid and Laxman are far too experienced to play out less than 20 overs without panicking.

With all the brouhaha on umpiring, Daryl Harper chose not to officiate in the final Test. He made some huge blunders that invited scathing attack from the Indian team. That hastened his exit, but not without a sound byte on the Indian team, when he said: “The laws of cricket should not apply to India.”

However, the West Indies team chose to remain silent on the umpiring horrors that they had to endure in the third Test. A stronger West Indies board may have made a lot more noise on this. But with West Indies cricket in tatters, it was expected they would roll with the punches that they got.

It’s time to put the past behind and look at the upcoming series in England, which promises to be more exciting both on and off the field.

Stay tuned…

(Dhananjay Devasper is an “IT guy” by profession and a sports fanatic at heart. He has an unbridled passion for sports and Indian achievements in sport. Extremely opinionated, he attempts offering perspectives around sports which are simple to understand and easy to relate with)