On the wings of the supreme leadership of their captain Rahul Dravid, who played two superb innings in this decisive match — 81 and 68 under difficult conditions on a pitch that gave ample assistance to bowlers from day one, India broke the 35 year-old Caribbean jinx as they cruised to victory over the West Indies at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica, to clinch the four-Test series one-nil. Not since 1971, when India defeated the West Indies with me aboard by seven wickets in the second Test at Queens Park Oval in Trinidad have they won a series in the Caribbean.
There was no doubt that the difference in the match was the two superlative knocks played by Dravid, one of the true master batsmen of the modern era, when everything was crumbling around him. And ironically, it was the other senior member of this young Indian team, 35 year-old leg-spinner Anil Kumble, who partnered his captain in a vital 93-run stand in the first innings as they clawed their way to 200, who had the final say late on Sunday afternoon with a match-winning spell of 6 for 78 in 22.4 overs, as the sun set on the Windies record of not having lost a Test series to India at home for over three decades.
Although 40 wickets fell in just 3 days on the bowler-friendly Sabina Park pitch, I think it is fair to say that the West Indies batsmen had only themselves to blame for the defeat. Their putrid batting display in the 1st innings that saw them bundled out for 103 runs — their lowest score against India in Tests — as they replied to the tourists’ modest 200, put them in an almost irretrievable position.
And so, despite the brilliant bowling performances of pacemen Corey Collymore who captured 5 for 48 and son of the soil Jerome Taylor with 4 for 45 that restricted the Indians to 171 in the second innings, in the bitter end, another poor batting display by the top order of Chris Gayle — 0, Darren Ganga 16, Brian Lara 11, and Shivnarine Chanderpaul 13, left them 49 runs short of the victory target of 269.
None of the aforementioned batsmen — all of some quality — manifested the Dravid-like discipline and technique that were required to survive the testing, turning, seaming Sabina pitch. Yet, none of these fine players in their own right could contend with any conviction that they were undone by a devilish delivery, courtesy the treacherous track. Ultimately, Lara’s well-documented lament over the condition of the pitch, which by the curator’s own admission was less than a typical five-day Test wicket, may have become too much of a psychological burden for some of his batsmen.
Ramnaresh Sarwan distinguished himself with a fine half century, as did wicket-keeper Dinesh Ramdin with a courageous 62 not out that held up the Indian charge to victory as he, with relative ease, shepherded the Windies lower order to push their score over 200, and in the process, raised some doubt in the minds of the opposition. Dwayne Bravo produced a promising knock of 33, which came to a sudden suicidal end with a most injudicious almighty swipe at a somewhat benign delivery. This to my mind was the last straw, despite the late heroics of his countryman Ramdin.
But one must give credit where credit is due, and the Indian attack of Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Harbajan Singh, and Anil Kumble bowled extremely well and used the favourable conditions to great advantage. Dravid handled his attack with calm efficiency, and each responded in kind. A rather intense Sreesanth and ever-smiling Patel made the initial breakthroughs, dismissing a rather lackadaisical Gayle, a tentative Ganga, and somewhat out-of-sorts skipper Lara. Thereafter, it was pretty much the Anil Kumble show. So, as the Indian spider with passport and winner’s trophy in hand prepares for the happy homecoming, the West Indies must pick up the pieces and build on the positives.
