Encouraging signs from the West Indies

Okay, so the West Indies are down two-nil in a three-Test series against India and the series is over, the last Test a mere matter of going through the motions and India going for the sweep. Add to that, the fact that the pitch is flat and the bowlers aren’t able to get much help so far. Still, one would have to be a completely blinkered pessimist not to see that several Windies players have stepped to the fore under very trying circumstances.

Ask cricketers from any of the top teams in the world and they will tell you that India is not an easy place to play, but so far this series the West Indies might have been beaten but there were times when they were in the game and in with a shot. The problem there is that the team seems to be dealing with its own self belief or the lack thereof but while that belief is not where it ought to be, one gets the sense that things are getting better.

In the second Test at Eden Gardens the West Indies were always trying to play catch up with India making a mammoth 631 for 7 declared. Inexplicably, the West Indies collapsed for 153 in their first innings. I say inexplicably because as bad as the West Indies have been, getting bowled out on a pitch that a team just made 600 on, it is hard to fathom why another team would not be able to make at least half that.

But yes, the Windies did succumb to spin, the team’s Achilles heel, but in times past the West Indies would have crumbled again in their second innings whether from the embarrassment of what happened in the first innings or their weakness against spin or a combination of both. What we witnessed however, was a team learning from its first innings mistakes and put up a much better show. One cannot also deny that the batsmen have shown an improvement in their approach to playing spin bowling. It’s a small step, but a big gain on this tour. With an ever-increasing regularity we see the batsmen playing the spinners with broad bats as opposed to their pads. Yes, they have hardly been able to move the spinners off the pitch but in time they will learn that too.

The improved second innings performance when the team made 463, it was with a contribution of only 47 from their talisman Shivnarine Chanderpaul. What the West Indies got was 62 from the oft-injured Adrian Barath, who may be about to start fulfilling his potential at opening bat; 60 from Kraigg Braithwaite, the 18-year-old opener who possesses Test match temperament; 84 from Marlon Samuels, who is also demonstrating greater consistency, and 136 from Darren Bravo, who after 12 Tests eerily shares similar statistics with West Indies great Brian Lara.

From the very first time he came to public attention, people have always said that the younger of the two Bravo brothers shapes like the legendary batsman. Many also believe he possesses an equal amount of talent. Well, after 12 Tests it certainly seems that way as in a similar number of Tests both batsmen have scored 941 runs at at average of 47.05.

So, on the first day this final Test in Mumbai, Bravo is unbeaten on 57 (average currently 49.90). It will be interesting to see how far he goes and what the comparison will be with Lara after 13 Tests. With him at the crease is Kirk Edwards, the newcomer who is playing in only his seventh Test but who already has two centuries and three half centuries. Edwards is unbeaten on 65. His current average in Tests is a very impressive 61.88. Edwards’ mature approach to batsmanship is extremely encouraging. His shot selection is mostly where it should be and he plays with the understanding of what is required to play Test cricket, and has demonstrated that he is more than capable.

What I believe we are seeing with the likes of Barath, Braithwaite, Edwards, and Bravo, is the emergence of a talented set of players who should form the nucleus of a solid West Indies team in the very near future. When you add players like Danza Hyatt, who has been improving steadily over the past couple of years and Andre Russell who is demonstrating the kind of potential as perhaps the best all-rounder coming out of the West Indies in years, things are finally beginning to look up for the West Indies. And with players like Jerome Taylor, likely to return in a year or so, the West Indies should have a cadre of bowlers that should have match-winning capabilities. ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year Devendra Bishoo is still learning but he possesses the skill set to develop into a match-winning bowler. Ravi Rampaul has consistent got better and along with Fidel Edwards, it it not inconceivable that in two years or so, the West Indies can get closer to where people in the Caribbean want them to be – a competitive Test team that can punch with the best teams in the world.