It will be history, If India wins at Barbados
India has a lot to worry about in Barbados test match. This tiny island has rightly been called as the fireball of the Caribbean. This proud country has seen magnificent balls of fire from the great speed merchants of the past like Wes Hall, Joel Garner, Malcolm Marshall. This proud island nation also gave the cricketing world the most gifted player of all time, Garfield Sobers.
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A proud stadium, Kensington Oval has stands honoring the legendary all-rounders. For a player, the stands stare piercing at you and the ground bears the immortal footprints of the great conquerors from the past.
According to history, India has never won a Test at this venue because the surface here offers great pace and bounce to the seamers. The Indian team have an opportunity to make history in the second Digicel Test and win the match to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
In the present West Indies team, it’s only the bowlers who man the match single handedly. The bowler will have to put more work and heart into their batting to lend a meaning to the bowlers’ efforts. With renowned sports psychologist Dr. Rudi Webster working with the West Indies team, they better be filled with belief; something which the side lacked.
Recovering swiftly from an elbow injury, Munaf Patel could replace leg-spinner Amit Mishra in the team, given the nature of the surface. Ishant Sharma could relish bowling on the pitch here if he utilized his height and high-arm action. With brilliant two-way swing with the new and the old ball, Praveen Kumar could once again pose searching questions to the West Indies batsmen.
Opener Murali Vijay will have to put in as much runs as he can. He needs to show the patience and perseverance it requires being a fine Test batsman. He should tighten up his game and make the switch mentally from the game’s abbreviated versions to Test match cricket.
Virat Kohli needs to fight much harder and must show commitment to his game style when bombarded with the short-pitched stuff from the pacemen. These technical changes are difficult to bring in suddenly, but there has to be a start of it sometime. Much will be expected from Harbhajan Singh who not only is four away from the 400-wicket mark in Tests but has to bowl a more attacking outside-the-off-stump line to achieve it.
As mentioned earlier, the West Indies team lacks balance between the bowling and the batting department. While the bowling department is improving with the day, the batting department seems to be getting weak. The batsmen really need to find their form and put up a good show of the immense talent they possess. Fidel Edwards and Kemar Roach, both are products of Barbados. If they are picked for the match they could make things difficult for the visitors.
Tags: Barbados, Cricket, India, Test Match, West Indies
