What a great leveler this game is!
It was quite appropriate that India registered its first series win in the Caribbean after 35 long years, at the Sabina Park in Kingston, a venue where the team has fared poorly in the past. The fourth and final Test of the 1975-76 series comes to mind. It was in this game that three of our batsmen; Anshuman Gaekwad, Gundappa Viswanath and Brijesh Patel had to be hospitalized as a result of some hostile fast bowling. We lost that Test, and with it, the series, and several people criticized our ability, or the lack of it, to cope with pace. It was heartening to see the captain of an Indian team accept the winners’ trophy and check at the same ground exactly three decades later.
The man who accepted the trophy and check on behalf of the team deserves every single compliment bestowed on him and a lot more. When confronted with an unpredictable and uneven pitch, a batsman needs to summon and utilize every single ounce of concentration, application and of course, technique that he possesses. Rahul Dravid’s twin displays in the Test made all the difference. Even as he steered his team to an unassailable position with his impeccable technique and steely temperament, he might well have felt a sense of deja vu. Indeed, most followers of Indian cricket felt it.
If one looks at the recent past and recalls all the Tests won by India on foreign soil since 2000-01, there will be one name that towers over the rest. From Kandy in 2001 to Kingston in 2006, Dravid has been the chief architect of India’s overseas triumphs.
At Kingston, on a difficult surface, he proved once again that he is truly a ‘great’ batsman. He may have lost out in the popularity stakes to players who have been more flamboyant, but when the going gets tough and the conditions aren’t all that conducive to batting, it is usually the less ‘glamorous’ batsman who will rise to the occasion and do the job for his team.
The West Indies’ main problem is that Sarwan and Chanderpaul apart, they do not have any batsman who can put his head down and do what Dravid did for India. They seemed to be an unhappy unit during the course of the game, with their skipper making no secret of his feelings vis-à-vis the pitch and the team. When a team loses, it is the captain and not the selectors who get rapped on their knuckles, and Lara’s frustration at not being heard was visible during his brief stay in the middle, and at the presentation ceremony. Right from the start of the series Lara has been asking for pacey wickets which would help his fast bowlers rather than the Indian spinners.
India were always going to be the favorites after securing a handy lead of 268. Anil Kumble did in the second innings what he has done consistently at home throughout his glorious career — run through a side. The leg-spinner’s total commitment to his team’s cause has been evident from his batting in recent times. His 45 in the first innings was as critical to India’s chances as Dravid’s 81. I think it would be safe to assume that his six-wicket haul, which helped India win a Test and series on foreign soil, would have given him as much pleasure as his record-breaking ten-wicket haul in a single innings against Pakistan in 1998-99.
