TIME TO ‘REWIND AND PLAY’


I’m sure, back home, in the sun-kissed Caribbean isles, there’s an air of despondency as their national team is found floundering against a formidable Indian side. Barring Chanderpaul, no West Indian batsman was in his elements in the First Test. So, I’m sure, for any youngster in the Caribbean, it would be really difficult for him to believe that West Indies, once-upon-a-time ruled the cricketing world for over a decade.

Caribbean cricket aficionados should be grateful to Steven Riley and his film ‘Fire in Babylon’. For he made the task simpler; to make these youngsters understand and believe that their team was once-upon-a-time the undisputed champions of the game.

History has enough evidence up its sleeve to prove it. Ask the Indians who witnessed Kapil lifting the World cup in 1983. They still regale us with the proceedings that unfolded at Lord’s that afternoon. With India bowled out for a paltry 183, no one gave them an outside chance. Especially against a team that boasted of a batting lineup of Greenidge, Haynes, Lloyd, Gomes and the irrepressible Richards. 66-5, and then 126-9, even then, none of the Indian supporters could believe it was almost curtains for the two-time defending champions. Few months later, the West Indian team landed in India, with retribution as their one-point agenda. Gavaskar and Vengsarkar held fort for the hosts against some hostile pace attack. Mind you, this West Indian team was devoid of Garner, had Roberts in his twilight, but still lethal enough to evoke fear on batsman-friendly Indian pitches. Marshall, Holding and Daniel simply took the conditions out of the equation. The visitors won two of the six tests by an inning and the third by 138 runs. They didn’t lose a game in the entire series.

Come 1987, the Indians, I’m sure, must’ve had a feeling of déjà vu. As Richards and his calypso cavaliers mauled the hosts in their own backyard. With Garner, Holding, Roberts having retired and Marshall unavailable, there was a new crop of bowlers: Walsh, Patterson and Davis who Richards used to the fullest. These guys were good enough to bowl India out for 75 on the first day of the series. But then, this was a different era. Since then, a lot has changed on both sides of the fence.

The current West Indian team looks promising on paper. But when it comes to actual performance, gravity has had its way, and the team looks on a downward spiral. Darren Sammy has shown promise as a skipper, but he’s a cricketer who makes up the numbers. Definitely, a far cry from his predecessors; the likes of Lloyd and Richards.

This is the first tour for the West Indies to India, in nine years. A long gap indeed. Many a great cricketers have left the scene in the interim period. If the First Test was any indication of what one could expect in this series, its time the visitors had a look at Steven Riley’s film. And know, they have a long way to go.


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