***Official*** India in West Indies

[adharcric]

Reports indicate that India will play all five test specialists in the warm-up match today in Antigua. With Jaffer opening, Laxman in the middle-order, Karthik behind the stumps and VRV and Kumble in the attack, six slots remain. Sehwag should open so he can spend some time out in the middle with Jaffer. Yuvraj should regain full fitness ahead of the first test and Dravid can take some rest as well. That will allow Kaif and Raina to play today. Harbhajan has been one of the few performers for India on this tour and Powar won't get a chance in the tests; both should sit. Pathan, Sreesanth and Munaf should all play to strike some rythm and compete with VRV ahead of the 1st test.

 

[honestbharani]

I heard that a number of regulars will be rested in this game starting today. Let us hope the test team can bounce back, although I am really pessimistic. Lara has never had a big test series against us and with this probably being his last against us, he might well be able to turn it on this time. If that happens, you know India are gone. Gayle, Chanderpaul and Sarwan are locks to do well against India over the four test series. And if Lara fires, India will be the team that is more likely to wilt.

 

[Craig]

That West Indies XI looks pretty much right except i don't think Chanderpaul will be fit enough to play and the Windies will play Morton instead.

I think that if they do include Dave Mohammed, then all the problems are solved and the West Indies win the series

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Dhoni has proven to be not so great off the subcontinent, only averaging 23 (which drops if you get rid of that not out) and we still haven't learnt much from India -- good on the subcontinent -- a poor team off it. The West Indies aren't a great side, an adequate one at best, and they only played average cricket which I think speaks volumes for the way the Indians played as India have a much better outfit than WI.

You really shouldn't judge if you didn't watch the series, and it's blatantly clear that you didn't, because your comment that the West Indies played average cricket is lunacy.

Was Chris Gayle's near-flawless 123 average?
Was Sarwan's magnificent ton average?
Were Dwayne Bravo's wonderfully energetic half-centuries average?
Was it average when the West Indies fought back in 4 of the 5 matches, losing the first, but taking it down to the wire?
Was the bowling of Dwayne Bravo in the death over average?
Were Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels average with the ball?

Lunacy.
The West Indies played superb cricket. India played average cricket, and hence were beaten 4-1. I suspect that had India played good cricket, they still would have lost 3-2 at least. The West Indies just played that well.

Lara said it best - "the West Indies have a good game. The problem is bringing it consistenty." (paraphrase)

At their best, the West Indies can match and beat any team in world cricket, and this series proves that. Consistency is the key, and for the most part of 5 matches in this series, the consistency has been there.

India is only a better outfit than the West Indies because the West Indies under-achieves more regularly.

Next time watch the series before commenting.

 

[albo97056]

its safe to say windies played well above what they were thought capable of and india well below. You can only beat whats in front of you and windies did, emphatically

 

[silentstriker]

its safe to say windies played well above what they were thought capable of and india well below. You can only beat whats in front of you and windies did, emphatically

Exactly. They played well, but they still aren't a good team. They are average. The problem is that India is so horrible overseas, that they make average teams look great.

WI beat a team that plays horrible outside the subcontinent. Good for them, you can't ask any more of them. Whether they are a good team will depend on what happens when they play some non-subcontinent teams.

 

[silentstriker]

Was Chris Gayle's near-flawless 123 average?
Was Sarwan's magnificent ton average?
Were Dwayne Bravo's wonderfully energetic half-centuries average?
Was it average when the West Indies fought back in 4 of the 5 matches, losing the first, but taking it down to the wire?
Was the bowling of Dwayne Bravo in the death over average?
Were Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels average with the ball?

How much of that is due to India sucking, rather than WI playing superb? No way to know, except through history of India overseas. WI played well above their average. But I am not ready to admit they are an above average team.

At their best, the West Indies can match and beat any team in world cricket, and this series proves that. Consistency is the key, and for the most part of 5 matches in this series, the consistency has been there..

If you think WI at their beat can match or beat Australia at their best...well I don't know what to say.

India is only a better outfit than the West Indies because the West Indies under-achieves more regularly.

And the suckiness that is India when they play outside the subcontinent.

 

[roseboy64]

The West Indies are an inconsistent team. If they preform totheir best they CAN beat anyone in the world. It just usually doesn't happen. Watch them all the time and you'll find that's true. In New Zealand, the WI really should have beaten them handily but at the stages in the matches when they should have taken charge they loosened up and lost accordingly, same thing that happened in the first ODI against India. Against India, the WI won the key momenst and so won the matches. Purely objective view and I'm sure a New Zealander who watched that Tests and ODIs will say that they were close. Is New Zealand then a poor team even at home?

 

[maxpower]

Its quite refreshing to see WI play with spirit and win like this, its great for cricket. Both teams are good, WI more inconsistent than India, but they just outplayed India in this series no matter what Dravid says

 

[superkingdave]

Dave

now for the tests. C'mon Brian pick the tadpole

 

[superkingdave]

good to see bouncin' amongst the runs today

 

[superkingdave]

word on the street is that the Indian's can't pick the great Dave, well that's not that surprising i guess. Due to my holiday i was unable to watch his masterclass this weekend, although i understand the ball he got Yuvraj with was a beauty. I'll hopefully get to watch him this weekend


It's coming, oh yes it's coming

 

[James]

The West Indies are an inconsistent team. If they preform totheir best they CAN beat anyone in the world. It just usually doesn't happen. Watch them all the time and you'll find that's true. In New Zealand, the WI really should have beaten them handily but at the stages in the matches when they should have taken charge they loosened up and lost accordingly, same thing that happened in the first ODI against India. Against India, the WI won the key momenst and so won the matches. Purely objective view and I'm sure a New Zealander who watched that Tests and ODIs will say that they were close. Is New Zealand then a poor team even at home?

Yes, the West Indies were close to winning a lot of games in New Zealand, but lacked the killer the edge to close out a game. As was said at the time, "they'd forgotten how to win".

The two obvious examples are the 1st Test in Auckland, and the ODI at Queenstown.

 

[marc71178]

How much of that is due to India sucking, rather than WI playing superb?

Hmm, are India the reverse of England?

When England had the run of 10 wins in 11 Tests and then went onto win in SA and the Ashes, it was mostly "because the opposition were useless"

Now it seems India only lost because they played badly and no credit is given to the Windies...

 

[silentstriker]

Hmm, are India the reverse of England?

When England had the run of 10 wins in 11 Tests and then went onto win in SA and the Ashes, it was mostly "because the opposition were useless"

Now it seems India only lost because they played badly and no credit is given to the Windies...

No, all the credit to the WI for taking advantage of their opportunity. Thats what decent teams are supposed to do.

But the biggest reason for the series loss was India sucking rather than WI playing well. That's all.

 

[marc71178]

So you're taking all credit away basically - exactly how England keep having all credit taken away...

 

[alternative]

No, all the credit to the WI for taking advantage of their opportunity. Thats what decent teams are supposed to do.

But the biggest reason for the series loss was India sucking rather than WI playing well. That's all.

India were outplayed, they had too many flaws in the team.. And you just can't say INDIA sucked, as its not true.. WI surely deserve credit for creating the flaws in our team, from the tough matches that they possessed throught the series..

 

[silentstriker]

So you're taking all credit away basically - exactly how England keep having all credit taken away...

No because if India had played ZIM or BAN, they would have won even if they played poorly. WI won because they took advantage, and all the credit to them for that.

 

[silentstriker]

I surely deserve credit for creating the flaws in our team, from the tough matches that they possessed throught the series..

Sure, they do. I am not implying that WI did not play well.

 

[silentstriker]

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/wivind/content/current/story/248892.html

As you can see, even Antigua and Barbados can make India look pedestrian overseas. So obviously, WI are also able to do that. That's a very toothless bowling attack we have there.