The cricket matche begin today in Dominica could be defined as a battle between two underachieving teams.
While the hosts’ struggles can be attributed to administrative and monetary constraints, as well as a lack of suitably talented and driven players, India has been consistently underwhelming at big-ticket events for a decade now, despite the BCCI’s financial might and administrative resources, as well as the world’s richest talent pool, which consistently produces prodigies. Making it to the finals of major tournaments is the basic minimum that India can anticipate, but failing to do so on multiple occasions raises concerns.
At the same time, the West Indies’ demotion to the second tier of cricket teams, or even lower, is now complete, at least in white-ball games. Their inability to get to the knockout stages of last year’s T20 World Cup in Australia was viewed as a big setback for a team whose strongest suit was thought to be the shortest format. But, at the very least, they were in Australia before the competition got underway. Their fate in the 50-over World Cup was sealed in remote southern Africa, and they would not even be near to India when the huge event began in October.
Many believe that the impending two-Test series is a foregone conclusion, with Sunil Gavaskar stating that “the team that the West Indies is today, you can go one day before the Test match starts and still beat them.” However, the West Indies have not been a pushover in the five-day game recently, particularly at home. India will undoubtedly start as heavy favourites, but the hosts have a few players who can spring a surprise or two.
The West Indies’ most important wins since the WTC’s inception have been two against England and one against Pakistan, and they have been difficult to beat in familiar settings. Over the last four years, they have won nine Tests and lost 15, but have won four and lost three since India last visited. It will mostly be up to their bowlers, particularly their pacers, to pull off a dramatic upset. In the previous series, it was up to Ravichandran Ashwin and others to save India after the top order collapsed with few runs on the board.