This is the fourth ODI of a really low key ODI series, which has been in the news for all the wrong reasons, none of them having anything to do with cricket. For long there was a doubt whether this series would even go ahead, so intense was the dispute between the West Indies players and the West Indies Cricket Board – WICB. While the dispute is still raging and shows no signs of ebbing down, at least the players seem committed to stay the course of the series.
The third match was, of course, cancelled because of Cyclone Hudhud, which has devastated the Eastern coastline of India. There was no way for the match at Vishakapatnam to carry on under such circumstances. Indeed, the cricket ground at Vishakapatnam looked more like a scene from an aftermath of a war.
So, we move on to the cool, calm and peaceful environs of Dharamshala, which is the abode of the Dalai Lama in India. Dharamsala is known for the quietness of its splendid Buddhist monasteries, and hopefully it will allow the West Indies players the peace and quiet they need to think through their issues with their board, which are quite serious, as they affect their livelihood as professional cricketers. Hopefully it would also inspire them to give their best against India in the match starting tomorrow.
West Indies collapsed in the match at Feroz Shah Kotla, after having been in a winning position. This is pretty much characteristic of the recent West Indies sides, which are shadows of how this formerly great cricketing nation used to be twenty or thirty years ago. A West Indies side that had Clive Llyod, Viv Richards, Gordon Greenidge or Brian Lara in it would never collapse so dramatically. Clearly, the West Indies as a cricketing nation have seen better days before, and things only seem to get worse for them.
This is not to say that they lack in good players. In limited overs cricket at least, the West Indies have a plenty of world class performers – Dwayne Bravo, Kieran Pollard, Andre Russel, Dwayne Smith, Marlon Samuels are all excellent players who shall feature in tomorrow’s game. Chris Gayle would be dearly missed though, and so too would Sunil Narine.
India haven’t been that great in this series either, and could only get out of the rut in the match at Delhi because of a splendid fight back by their bowlers – Mohammad Shami, Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra. They are yet to reach the sort of form that won them the 2011 cricket World Cup. With the 2015 World Cup to be held in Australia not so far off, they need to start performing and do so now.
Match Conditions
Dharmasala is one of the coolest places in India, and the low temperatures here would be a pleasant change for the cricketers. They are expected to sweat a lot less, certainly. This also means that the pitch would assist the pace bowlers, as the weather conditions here have always helped seam bowling. Pace bowlers on either side would enjoy the lively Dharmasala pitch.
Team news
India (likely): 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Amit Mishra, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Mohammed Shami
West Indies (likely): 1 Dwayne Smith, 2 Darren Bravo, 3 Marlon Samuels, 4 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 5 Dwayne Bravo (capt), 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Darren Sammy, 8 Andre Russell, 9 Sulieman Benn, 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Jerome Taylor
