da fezbet： The selection of every Indian squad is admittedly not withoutsurprise omissions and inclusions
da brwin： Partab Ramchand23-Mar-2002The selection of every Indian squad is admittedly not withoutsurprise omissions and inclusions. But looking at the Indian teampicked for the tour of the West Indies, it must be said that thesurprises have been kept to a minimum. Despite problems regardinga couple of aspects concerning the team composition, there islittle doubt that 13 or even 14 virtually selected themselves,and the main discussions, not unexpectedly, centered only overthe remaining two or three slots.
The main strength of the team will again be the batting. It is difficult to see the present West Indian pace quartet, a pale shadow of what it used to be, quickly skittling out a line-upthat consists of Das, Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Tendulkar, VVSLaxman and Dinesh Mongia.
That said, it should also be noted that, as far as the bowling is concerned, the team is rather heavily pace-oriented, while spin,the country’s traditional strength, has been given short shrift.The thought of only two spinners in a squad of 16 is slightlyfrightening. One shudders to think of a scenario wherein eitherAnil Kumble or Harbhajan Singh is injured on the eve of a Test.Taking the field with just one spinner could be disastrous, asthe Indians on the last tour of the West Indies in 1997discovered – in the one Test they lost, India played only onespinner. Incidentally, even on that trip, the selectors gaveSachin Tendulkar only two spinners in Kumble and Sunil Joshi. Onthe tours prior to that, the bowling composition has been threemedium-pacers and four spinners.A lot has been said of four pace bowlers having being picked withthe fast Caribbean pitches in mind. So often, Indian teams of thepast have discovered that, in many of the centres, this has beenmore of a myth. The horses-for-courses policy is fine, but fourseam bowlers may be a luxury the team can do without. Indeed,never before has India fielded a quartet of pace bowlers for atour of the West Indies. It remains to be seen how this gamblepays off and that is what I would like to call it, a gamble.Personally, I would have liked to see Murali Kartik in the squadinstead of a seam bowler. I also honestly thought we had seen thelast of Deep Dasgupta. Whatever his successes with the bat, hehas proved a duffer behind the stumps. The problem of an openingpartner for Shiv Sundar Das remains, and it is time to plug thatloophole, not with the likes of Dasgupta but with a morerecognised batsman.There should have been place for both Connor Williams and the inform Wasim Jaffer in the squad. In the long run, such a move willhelp in solving the problem at the top of the order. Ajay Ratracan well manage the stumper’s job on his own for five Tests andtwo first-class games, with Rahul Dravid stepping in during anyemergency.The main strength of the team will again be the batting. It isdifficult to see the present West Indian pace quartet, a paleshadow of what it used to be, quickly skittling out a line-upthat consists of Das, Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Tendulkar, VVSLaxman and Dinesh Mongia. But the point is, since when didbatting alone win matches? The batsmen may run up healthy totals,but it is the bowlers who have to set up the victory thrust.However, all things considered, it is pretty much the best teamthat could be selected, and if there are no injury or fitnessproblems, there is every reason to believe that the Indians willgive a good account of themselves. They have one factor in theirfavour the weakness of the opposition. Even former West Indiescaptain Viv Richards has gone on record as saying that his team’sfortunes are at an all-time low. It is worth remembering,however, that even in 1997, the West Indies were well on thedownward slide, but they still won the five match series 1-0thanks to one shocking Indian collapse at Bridgetown.Also, in seven contests between the two countries in theCaribbeans, the Indians have emerged triumphant only once – ontheir third visit in 1971. Will Ganguly’s squad emulate AjitWadekar and his boys? It must be categorically stated that theywill not get a better chance to set right their woeful recordabroad and win their first series outside the subcontinent in 16years. Plainly put, then, it is a case of now or never.
