BOMBAY, 25 October — India have never had it so easy in any Test series against the West Indies in the last 50 years and more. Having crushed the once mighty Caribbeans inside of four days in the first two Tests, the third and final match has been reduced to a meaningful conclusion where either India will make a rare clean sweep or the visitors will be able to rescue a modicum of their pride.

Are the innings victory at Bombay and an equally facile eight-wicket triumph in Madras a true reflection of the home side’s overwhelming superiority over rivals who have always been their biggest tormentors in the past?

There is no doubt that the Indian team is on a roll at the moment, having achieved rare consistency and a series of successes, more so in the shorter version of the game. As well as the squad led by Saurav Ganguly has been performing in the last eight months, the team’s good performances were not totally unexpected. The strongest batting line-up in the world has certainly assured that. But there can be no denying the fact that the side’s bowling is not all that great to bring victory, as big as these, and in only three and a half days.

So, what is it that has brought about such a sea-change in the fortunes of the Indian attack, which on foreign soil, has always struggled all the way despite the cushion of a big total given by their batsman?

The one single factor that has tremendously tilted the scales in favor of India, so far in the Test series, has been the odd nature of the new wickets that have been prepared at all major match centers, ten of them to be more precise. The experiments with these new surfaces at Bombay and Chennai so far have proved disastrous for the visiting team.

In both cases, Test matches were allowed to be played on virgin wickets, which were re-laid just three months before the schedule of the matches. Since the preparation went on late, not a single ball was bowled in any form of a match before the Tests. Before the matches, the nature of wickets were unknown. As they came under use, both in Bombay and Chennai, they turned out to be spinner-friendly from day one.

This West Indies side had only one tried and trusted spinner in Nagamuttoo. They of course had in the squad a raw off-spinner in Gareth Breese. Carl Hooper himself is only an utility spinner. Indians being adept at playing spin, were not unduly bothered by Nagamoottoo in Bombay, nor newcomer Breese at Madras. The West Indies made the mistake of not playing both of them at Madras. They had no idea what the wicket would be like.

There is no need to underscore the fact that India’s victories were spin-fashioned on surfaces that invariably had an uneven bounce and were dry enough for the spinners to get tremendous purchase off the surface. This is not to say that this West Indies team, without the likes of Brian Lara to prop up their batting, could have otherwise turned the tables on India. No, but the fact remains that they were forced to play on surfaces that some hard-core critics called "a disgrace to Test cricket."

Yes, indeed on such pitches which turned out to be viciously spinning tracks, Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble were able to prove more than a handful to the visiting batsmen, who further compounded their problems by trying to hit themselves out of trouble, instead of adopting a more defensive strategy.

The question to be asked is whether five-day Test matches should ever be permitted to be played on surfaces that have never been tried at all. In both cases, not a single match, even a one-day trial game, was ever played before the big game. This was terribly unfair to a visiting team.

Actually in Bombay, the pitch that was prepared for the first Test, was suddenly changed just a week before the match and a new strip was taken up, as the curator had suspected that the original one would crumble.

In Chennai, the wickets played tricks from the first day itself. Rain on the eve of the third day and the desperate drying efforts by the ground staff had helped the wicket to bind and shed some of its devil. Subsequently, the West Indies fared slightly better in the second innings. They crossed the 200-mark for the first time in four innings, which is more than can be said of the poor state of their batting.

Having been somewhat wiser, it is understood that the authorities at Kolkata have decided to work harder on the wicket that is being prepared for the third Test, starting on Oct. 30. The ground staff has also suggested a three-day match be held just before the Test on the adjoining strip so that they can get an insight into the true nature of the wickets that will be laid out for the Test match.

Meanwhile, the problems of the West Indies team are increasing, what with the financial crisis in their Board looming large over their heads. The players are amongst the most poorly paid of the top teams. They had once revolted but now they have to reconcile to the fact that the administration does not have enough money to pay them. This is bound to have a further psychological effect on their performances. As things stand, the present West Indies team appears somewhat forsaken. They do not seem to enjoy their cricket as of the old. The wide smiles usually associated with the West Indies players, whatever the state of the game, are missing. There is a grim atmosphere running through the side. Let me tell you that this is not entirely due to the two big defeats that they have suffered so far.

Home fans may be cock-a-hoop with joy with India already having won the Test series, but it is sad to see West Indies cricket going into such a decline.