The Misery Upon West Indies Can Only Be Ended By The West Indies Themselves
At a time where Ravichandran Ashwin, it seems, is single-handedly enough to completely neutralise the West Indies with Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj bowling with astute awareness, there’s little the West Indies can do.
Meek surrender of the batters
Well, that’s unless they take a drastic stock of their current woes with a sense of immediacy as if their cricketing survival depended on how they approach the second and final Test that’s now shortly about to begin.
With their top order in absolute disarray, given the Kraigg Brathwaite from the opening duo comprising Tagenarine Chanderpaul reached double-digit figures only once at Dominica with the left-hander having mightily failed in the last test, there’s little going the West Indies way.
If there was ever a need for the West Indies cricket to evidence the classic Chanderpaul temerity to take hold, then Tagenarine will have to channelise his inner Chanderpaul strength of spirit now.
Tagenarine must act like a Chanderpaul
The leftie needs to play the sort of knock he played with much success against Zimbabwe earlier this year, an effort that culminated in a glorious double hundred.
You’d think - and rather optimistically so- that post Dominica’s humiliation, probably a conversation between the noted father and son would’ve held Tagenarine in good stead.
But did something of that sort happen? Did the badly ailing West Indies actually think of something out of the box such as having a conversation with the Wall of Test cricket; with the ever resourceful Rahul Dravid actually being very much there?
Never a harm in reaching out to someone illustrious with exceptional game awareness even if that means seeking advice from the opponent’s fold!
A timely change, if asserted, will come in thanks to Raymon Reifer being shrugged for Kevin Sinclair; but can the neophyte who’s made an impression in white ball cricket adjust timely to the rigorous demands of Test cricket- we shall wait for the game to answer.
Oh dear Blackwood
Moreover, with Jermaine Blackwood, with a personal best score of 63 against India in Tests (203 runs, 6 Tests) thus far, having seemed completely out of sorts, the West Indies won’t really begin the contest at the Queen’s Park Oval with a spring in their step.
What’s not helping their cause either is the very talented Joshua Da Silva seeming completely clueless against spin.
The young wicket keeper’s job isn’t merely to function as a chatterbox behind the stumps; he’s got to show some focus and responsibility now that he has the faith of the selectors and for some strange reason, not Shane Dowrich.
A lot riding on young Athanaze
All the vital expedience of having piled on the runs at the subcontinent must pay rich dividends now for the national set up now that the outcry surrounding West Indies’s spineless surrender is growing only much louder.
The only glimmer of hope, truth be told, is young and bold Alick Athanaze, the best West Indian bat from Dominica given his personal best score of 47 that offered limited but vital resistance amid the macabre failure of the other ten in the unit.
Athanaze has little choice but to shoulder more responsibility than what one would like pile on someone who’s only just begun.
Arise Windies!
But that he has the talent and perhaps even the willingness to stay out and engage the bat in the talking business offers hope much like the sparkle of the light at the end of the tunnel.
Though to escape the tunnel of despair that the West Indians currently find themselves in where poor shot making coupled with a seemingly thoughtless approach have only made their situation dire, there’s little than anyone else can be blamed.
You can be out of form, but it’s something completely different to allow an opponent to enjoy a walkover.
As the cricket fan and one who begs to have some clarity, you can’t help but question whether the defeat sustained inside the three days at Dominica really hurt.
For if it did, it would ideally result in a completely different performance at Trinidad.
There’s no other way.
But given the West Indies are about to enter what’ll be their one hundredth Test against India and this being at the famed Brian Lara territory, you’d hope to see some fighting performances if not an entirely hair raising performance.
Perhaps the best time to bounce back and display the long lost never say die approach.
There’s a lot at stake. West Indies cricket, factually, is actually on stake.
Rally!
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