Based on pre-tour intelligence India’s management team for the moment appears to be surprised if not shocked at the quality of their opposition here in the West Indies. Having been convincingly beaten in the ODI’s 4 to 1, and then bundled out for a moderate 241 in a little more than a day after winning the toss and choosing to bat at the notoriously batsman friendly Antigua Recreation Ground, Rahul Dravid, Greg Chappell and company will likely no longer put too much faith in the ICC rating system.
And India’s team selection for this 1st Test match must have raised eyebrows among their multitude of fans with the omission of spinner Harbajan Singh. Harbajan who bowled impressively in the preceding ODI series is conspicuous by his absence. Generally considered as one of India’s main strike bowlers and a vital component in tandem with Anil Kumble, one wonders what might have motivated the India think tank into that controversial decision. The omission of all-rounder Irfan Pathan is also perplexing. Perhaps India’s management opted for the 6th batsman over an additional specialist bowler based on the evidence that the Antigua Recreation Ground is reputedly a featherbed, and considered utilizing prolific opener Virender Sehwag as the stand-in offspinner, since he bowled quite effectively in the 5th ODI at Port-of-Spain. To this point the plan seemed to have been well thought out as Sehwag at the end of the second day’s play with the West Indies on 318 for 6, finished with excellent figures of 12-2-32-2, having claimed the prized scalps of Dwayne Bravo and Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
But nevertheless one wondered whether or not the India selectors gave thought to the relative inexperience of their pace trio of Test debutant VRV Singh, and Sreesanth and Munaf Patel with just 6 Tests between them, and therefore should they not have invested in the veteran spinner as cover particularly on the crucial 4th and 5th days of this opening Test. All in all India are very much in the game with the West Indies so far leading by 77 runs, not quite able to capitalize on their remarkable bowling performance on Day 1 and the promising second wicket partnership of 119 runs between the rampaging Chris Gayle 72 and a more circumspect Ramnaresh Sarwan, 58. With their top six batsmen in the pavillion, West Indies squandered a great opportunity to post a score of say 450 on a good pitch, squarely setting India behind the 8 ball facing a deficit in excess of 200 runs. Gayle, Sarwan and Bravo got excellent half centuries but did not blossom as they could have though they all seemed in control. Chanderpaul struggled although he provided good support to the free-flowing Bravo, while skipper Brian Lara who appears to be pushing all of the right buttons as far as the team’s leadership and progress are concerned, is still seeking to get his batting groove back.
And so West Indies, one might say, are headed for a lead of somewhere in the neighborhood of 120 or so. The question is, could this upstart Windies attack repeat their superb performance of the 1st innings which reflected pinpoint strategy, admirable discipline, and a cerebral application to the task against an inveterate and potentially explosive batting Indian lineup, restricting them to 241 runs. As I have mentioned in my last column, the pitch at the Antigua Recreation Ground has a strange tendency to play better as the match progresses, which might have prompted Lara to say that had he won the toss he would have opted to field anyway.
