'Indians carrying too many guns for the natives'

Not for a long time has an Indian team began a series overseas with a win. The one that comes to mind is the Indian team winning the first two Tests in England in 1986 under Kapil Dev. The team almost had a clean sweep but were denied by some dodgy calls at a time when there were no third country umpires and nobody could dare say a word against the old powers even when they were blatantly doing things that suited their interests.

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Virat Kohli 's team has the chance of a clean sweep in the Caribbean that would in some way assuage the hurt of the brown wash that the Indian team suffered in 1962. The West Indian team has to lift itself up remarkably to push this Indian team. They do have some quality players but it appears from the commentary box as if there is no direction and sense of purpose when they are out there.

On the other hand the Indian team looks highly motivated to do well individually and as a group and have by far much better temperament than the hosts. To be fair with most of the experienced West Indian players away participating in the Caribbean Premier League, this is an inexperienced outfit that is fronting up against the Indians. The captain himself is a bit of a rookie having played a handful of Tests and his own body language is so defensive that the others cannot get a positive vibe from him and raise the level of their game.

Of course not everything can be blamed on the skipper because the other individuals have to step up too but when the fear of being dropped and being jobless is no longer there, thanks to the T20 leagues all around the world, the hunger to give it that extra seems absent in most players. That said the Indians are carrying too many guns for the natives and with the kind of batting and bowling combination that they have it's a tough balance for the team's selection committee to pick and leave out some players. Murali Vijay's injury may not heal in time, so KL Rahul could get a look in and in the kind of touch and form he is in the West Indians could be in for some more punishment. Rahul also took an excellent catch at forward short-leg, an area where he seems to specialise as we have seen in the past too. The trick is to stay low and for a tall man he does that remarkably well so he can pick those catches which come fast towards the ankles. Cheteshwar Pujara will relish the opportunity to get some runs here because with the new aggressive mantra that the team is following a batsman who drops anchor is not what will be needed.

R Ashwin's all round performance deservedly won him the man of the match in Antigua and he will be keen to get more in the series. The change from the off and middle stump line to just outside the off-stump is beginning to pay rich dividends as he is getting the batsman in two minds. He would have been thrilled with the classical off-spinners dismissal when the batsman went to drive through the covers and was bowled between bat and pad.That was deception at its best and Ashwin keeps getting better and better at it.

The pitch may have a little more bounce than in Antigua but the West Indian attack does not really have a genuine speedster unless Alzarri Joseph, the young tearaway, is picked to play. How the youngster copes with the pressure will be interesting. Hey, not just him but how the rest of the team copes will also be interesting to say the least.

Source: PMG

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