India vs West Indies: Virat Kohli and co need to be ruthless to avoid another 'bloody nose' moment

“It ain’t over till the fat lady sings.” The Indian cricketers currently on their tour of the West Indies learnt this bitter lesson, when underdogs West Indies came back from the dead to salvage a draw in the Jamaica Test on Wednesday. The Indians woke up on the last day of the Test, expecting the win to be a walk in the park. But the underrated home team batsmen fought a superb rear-guard battle to swat the bowlers for 340 runs in 88 overs, losing just two of the last six wickets and forcing the draw. While this was a clear indictment of the Indian bowlers and the bankruptcy of ideas of the Indian think tank, it served as a reminder that the West Indies teams, however weak they might seem, are capable of turning the tables when least expected. [caption id=“attachment_2914468” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Ravichandran Ashwin in action against West Indies. AP[/caption] Who can forget the nightmarish fifth morning of the Barbados Test of 1997? A supposedly brilliant Indian batting line up of VVS Laxman, Navjot Sidhu, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Mohammad Azharuddin, Saurav Ganguly, Nayan Mongia and others were set a target of a mere 120 runs, to win the Test. The West Indies, on the other hand, did not have the services of the fearsome Courtney Walsh. The ageing Curtly Ambrose, a semi-fit Ian Bishop, who was battling a plethora of career-threatening injuries, series debutants Franklyn Rose and Mervyn Dillon, both very average fast medium bowlers, were all that stood between India’s famed batting line-up and the 120 runs to victory. The win was supposed to be a piece of cake. The pitch was not at all unplayable. The odd delivery kept low but there was no terror in the strip. Additionally, the West Indies’ pace attack had never been weaker. However, the celebrated Indian batting line-up turned tail under pressure and packed up, shockingly, for a mere 81. There was absolutely no semblance of a fight or a belief that they could win the Test. It was one of the worst capitulations by India’s batting, and coming on a reasonably good fifth day wicket against an average pace attack, was one of the biggest lows of Indian cricket. On the other hand, it showed that even when they were down the West Indies could be expected to be a combative side that would not yield an inch. There was another time when the Indians took the West Indies very lightly and paid the price. This was when Walsh’s team came calling on Indian shores in 1994. Walsh was the lone top fast bowler in the ranks. The others, Cameroon Cuffy and Kenneth Benjamin, looked so average that the legendary Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar described the bowling as a “popatwadi attack”. Yet, by the time the West Indies left our shores this “popatwadi attack” had virtually finished the career of the talented Vinod Kambli. The Mumbai left-handed batsman had taken the cricketing world by storm, when in his first 13 Tests he had made two double tons and two tons besides three 50s. But Walsh and Benjamin worked him over so badly that he was a wreck by the end of the series. He made 40 in his first innings against them. But in the next five, he aggregated a meagre 24 runs and was forced to slip down from number three to number six in the batting order. His Test career ended soon after. India in that series were shot out for 114 in the Mohali Test, which they lost pretty badly. Thus, anybody who underestimates the West Indies team should know that despite possessing poor teams they have given the Indians a bloody nose in the past. The excellent last-ditch battle at the Sabina Park, which turned a certain defeat into a draw, could be termed as yet another such moment. It is owing to these reasons that India should ruthlessly turn the screws at the first opportunity as they prepare for the remaining Tests in the series. It would be pertinent to point out that some of the top West Indies cricketers – Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Lindl Simmons, Samuel Badree, Sunil Naraine, Andre Russel, Keiron Pollard, Darren Sammy et al – have become much sought after T20 freelancers, who peddle their wares around the world. Some of them turned their back on Test cricket over five years ago and this is obviously hurting the team. That the West Indies Cricket Board has mismanaged its resources and alienated its top players goes without saying. But this is not India’s concern. Probably it too would have been just as weak if its top eight cricketers were not available for Test cricket. This Indian team’s focus must be on developing a winning habit. Simultaneously, it must leverage this series to build a formidable combination for tougher forthcoming battles against Australia and England. The third Test starting on Tuesday is a continuing process towards that goal.