India vs West Indies: ODI series loss another reminder for Windies that nostalgia of glorious past will not win them games

The shallow pool of talent on the cricket tour of India from the West Indies will be inclined draw consolation from the competitive streak that it suddenly discovered in Visakhapatnam and Pune. Yet, after losing the five-match one-day international series 1-3, it will realise that the gap between the two teams is so vast that it needed India to perform below potential to infuse life in the series. Three batsmen, Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer and Jason Holder, scored more than 100 runs and only Ashley Nurse finished with five wickets against his name in the series. How can such a side expect to compete against formidable India? It was hard to believe that these cricketers hail from the region whose earlier teams invoked respect, awe and fear, not necessarily in that order. Yes, it was tough to reconcile to the fact that there was a time hearts would quiver at the mere thought of an Indian team taking on the might of the West Indies. Its batsmen would be fearlessly explosive, capable of decimating any attack and its battery of fast bowlers would make every other team go green with envy. [caption id=“attachment_5492241” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] West Indies showed the competitive sparks at Visakhapatnam and Pune, before being flattened in Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram. AFP[/caption] The dramatic tie in Visakhapatnam and the West Indies win in Pune have to be seen as the Indian batsmen’s gifts to the visiting side. These games created some excitement and kept the interest in the series alive till the very last one-day international in Thiruvananthapuram. But it was always obvious that Holder’s team did not have the qualities to challenge India. Chasing 322 in Visakhapatnam, West Indies had the dice loaded in its favour as the Indian bowlers struggled with a wet cricket ball. With Hope playing an anchoring role, Hetmyer’s hitting set the team on the road to certain victory. But it was unable to get the 69 needed in 12.3 overs, Holder’s run-out dismissal in the 48th over pushing the team on the backfoot. Despite Virat Kohli’s heroics in scoring his third successive century in the series, West Indies ran out winners of the third ODI in Pune by a whopping 43-run margin. The home side tinkered with its batting line-up and paid the price, conceding three wickets to Marlon Samuels’ off-spin. The win raised some hopes, but those were quickly flattened in Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram. The Caribbean team lacks heroes — it is tough to believe that one is actually saying it of the West Indies — who can inspire the bunch of aspiring cricketers to shy away from football, basketball and athletics. It may have lost nearly a whole generation of players to the lure of Twenty20 cricket and has been left with players who are short of experience of playing the longer formats. Players of the quality of Dwayne Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Carlos Brathwaite and Sunil Narine were out of the squad for one reason or the other. Barring Samuels, none of the players in the ODI team has figured in more than 100 games. In fact, as many as 11 cricketers have played less than 50 ODIs as of now. Yet, it would be patently unfair to suggest that such inadequate experience alone was responsible for the lopsidedness in evidence in the series. Even to the casual observer, the West Indies’ lack of stomach for a fight was all too obvious. And that will be worrisome for fans of West Indies cricket, hoping against hope to witness a turnaround in their lifetimes. Besides, given the upheavals of West Indies cricket in the past decade, Holder is finding it hard to provide the leadership that the team needs. He is well-intentioned and has the backing of the Cricket West Indies (CWI) bosses. But the side truly needs the skills of a Frank Worrell to not only harness the talent at his disposal but also encourage the experienced players to represent the West Indies. There is a school of thought that believes that more money will end West Indies’ woes on the cricket pitch. That may be only partly true. It needs to invest a great deal more — emotionally and politically at that — at the grass-roots level to be able to draw youngsters to watch and play the game. With the various countries pulling in different directions, it is an uphill task, indeed. Its political leadership, the 20-state group called Caribbean Community (CARICOM), needs to step up the plate and ask itself if it wants to help West Indian cricket stand on its feet again. From this distance, that seems to be a tall order at the moment, with cricket not being among their top priorities. The mandarins of CWI are locked in a tussle with the senior players. Yet, it is important for world cricket that West Indies hauls itself back on rails. And there is no time left. Perhaps some of ICC’s members who are faring better can chip in to help West Indies regain some momentum and be counted among the world’s elite teams. Yes, West Indies needs help from Beyond A Boundary to rescue it from the Altar of Ego that it now finds itself in. Sport is replete with many examples of nations and teams being left to their own devices on their downward spiral. For instance, Indian hockey has had to struggle a long time to pick itself up and believe in itself again. Those who follow football will see a parallel in the decline of the Netherlands squad, failing to qualify for the FIFA World Cup finals in Russia.

Such teams have realised that nostalgia of a glorious past is not going to win them games. They have to keep pace with the times and embrace evolution. West Indies’ cricket ecosystem is in the exact same situation and needs to find the right intervention if it is to remain relevant to and in world cricket.

However, cricket bosses in the West Indies may believe that the success of the Combined Campuses and Colleges in the Regional Super50 will be that catalyst that will spur the revival of their team. The youngsters, led by Brathwaite, are being constantly reminded that their primary purpose is to resurrect West Indies cricket culture. It is obvious after the one-day international series in India that West Indies need someone to marshal the diminishing resources and make its team competitive again. It desperately needs a spark to ignite its journey in the years ahead and not survive on sporadic talent that comes through. Else, even Fire in Babylon will also be lost to the cobwebs of distant memory.