From an India’s
perspective the result and the performances of their players were under par but
at the end of the day the objective of these games is put the players through a
thorough test. The ‘A’ tours are part of a learning phase and failure will only
make them better players. One hopes the
batsmen can eradicate their mistakes and work on their games. I’m sure some of the players have now realised that international conditions are tough and they need to keep
improving.
Conditions and
Pitches
The pitches were quite similar to what the Indian team had
experienced last year against the West Indies and also similar to the ones in
the latest test series in West Indies against Australia.
The pitches were not conducive to stroke play and it was
extremely difficult to score runs at times. Pitches could be described as ‘new ball wickets’
(only assisted the fast bowlers when the ball was new). The Indian batsmen failed
miserably at combating the early bursts from the West Indian quick men.
Once the ball got old
it was a common sight to have short mid wickets, short covers and the ring
field to stump to stump bowling. There was unpredictable bounce and tall
bowlers like Johnson were able to extract steep bounce making it difficult for
Indian batsmen. The pitch was the 2nd test was extremely dry and
there was uneven bounce from as early as day 2. It was a tough pitch and any
score of 50 was equal to a 100. It was
not a series for batsmen, only a solitary hundred from either side.
Positives for India
(Batting)
Cheteshwar Pujara
– Not playing a lot of games in the IPL meant Pujara was refreshed and eager to
prove himself. Pujara scored 252 runs at
Avg of 50.4 with three 50’s including matching winning 98 not out in the first
test to guide India to the total of 220. Batting at number 4 the latest Pujara
came into bat was in the 13th over and highest score he came in to
bat at was only 32. It showed he had the technique to combat the new ball and
in the 2nd test was also willing to counter attack the West Indian
bowlers. Importantly he was able to play the horizontal bat shots and was
rarely troubled by the short ball in the series.
Wridiman Saha: Statistics
won’t show it but Saha had a reasonable tour in batting department. Overall he
was third highest runs scorer with 158 runs at 26.6, it included two 50’s and
he managed to get a start in 4 out of his 6 innings. Top order failures meant he had to resurrect the
Indian batting each time he went out to bat. Although troubled by the short
ball at times, Saha never flinched and played some gritty innings. Apart from 1 dropped catch and a difficult
missed stumping he kept wickets extremely well on wickets with unpredictable
bounce.
Notable Mention: Manoj Tiwary batting
at number 5 and 6, Tiwary scored 184 runs at 30.14. There are not great
statistics but still 2nd to Pujara. Started to find his feet as the series went on but one has to question
his technique against pace bowling. Tiwary was LBW or bowled in 4/6 dismissals
playing across the line and 5/6 were against fast bowlers.
Negatives (Batting)
One of the sole reasons for India’s pathetic batting
displays in Australia and England last year were the lack of opening
partnerships. It was the similar scenario in the A tour.
Mukund – Looked out
of sorts from the 1st test. Not
only were his mere 46 runs well below par but the concern for the selectors is
the mannerism in which he got himself out. Mukund was caught behind the wicket or a
victim of playing a full length delivery across the line. It was a clear that Mukund struggled with the
steep bounce and pace of West Indies opening bowlers.
Rahane: Batted at number 3 to accommodate Dhawan
in the team, but had no impact. Unlike Mukund, Rahane was undone by deliveries
that either shot along the ground or bounce vigorously. Rahane looked good at
times and gave the feeling a big score was around the corner but it never came.
India must persist with him in foreign conditions as he looks the best back
foot player. Unfortunately going back on some of these pitches was committing suicide.
Rohit: Started
the series with the most fluent innings on either side. Rohit’s 96 in the first
test was fluent, gritty and pure class. As so often the case Rohit was undone
by himself rather than good bowling.
Some of his dismissals were playing too early at balls and playing at
wide deliveries. Rohit needs that extra luck to be able to shine or he needs to
work harder when runs don’t come easily.
Positives for India (Bowling)
There was so much focus on the batting in this series that
the bowling performances went under the radar.
The conditions favoured slow bowlers so all the bowlers including the
part timers chipped in but as it often the case with India no real stand out’s
in the bowling expect one.
Shami Ahmed: Not
many had heard of him and his domestic record is not eye catching either but
this tour he was the shining light. Ahmed was the only bowler to play in all 3
matches and picked up 13 wickets at 19.19. Not overly quick but bowled some
beautiful outswinger to dismiss the West Indies openers in each innings. Impressive part was he seemed to have plan to
each batsmen and was able to execute it once the ball got old. Once the ball was old he was accurate and
managed to bowl stump to stump to get LBW’s and bowled. Ahmed also showed he had a really good
bouncer and was able to get some wickets from it. There will be some keen eyes
on him for Bengal this year.
Notable Mention: Akshay Darekar, Maharashtra left arm spinner
bowled beautifully in the 2nd inning of the 2nd test on a
wicket that aided spin and bounce. Darekar ended up with 6/67 best figures for
Indian bowler on tour. Darekar was not
as effective on a wicket that was as non conducive to spinners in 3rd
test. Modern day left arm spinner he
relied heavily on accuracy rather than flight.
Negatives
Rahul Sharma: Played
in the first two matches on wickets that were helpful to spinners but struggled
to turn the ball. Rahul is accuracy but given the wicket that turned and that
did have unpredictable bounce he failed to make an impact. Rahul has been
looked upon in similar bowler to Kumble but he really struggled to get any bite
from the surfaces. Rahul was out bowled
by his name sake Rohit Sharma.
Puzzling ?
It was interesting to see Pujara persisted at number 4
rather than 3. In the last test match Rohit was elevated but Pujara remained at
4. Robin Bist was given a middle order
slot instead of opening in his single game.
What was the point of taking 4 openers on the
tour?
The real star of this
series though was from the West Indies. Derlon Johnson, left arm fast standing
at 6ft 6 was outstanding. Johnson picked up 17 wickets at 16.8. Johnson can be considered ‘fast’, he gets
steep bounce and can move the ball both ways.
Johnson should be in line to be chosen for the West Indies in next
couple of series.
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