A forgettable tour-opener
Abhishek Mathur - 8 April 2002

India have managed to win the tour opener against a second-string team - the Guyana Board President XI - their only game before the Test series commences against the West Indies on Thursday. While there is still time for the playing eleven to be announced for the first Test at Georgetown, it is time for the Indian think-tank to get going and examine the best options for the first Test.

Contrary to expectations, India fielded a full-strength team against the Guyana BP XI. I think that has both its advantages and disadvantages, although this tour opener in particular could not have been the type India would have wanted before a two-month duel against the West Indies. At least one other match against a stronger team could given the Indians a chance to test their bench strength.

India, thus, could not have gained much from this tour opener. Aside from the fact that fielding a full-strength team denied India a chance of testing the bench, they also were not sorely tested in their most vulnerable aspects of the game - the opening pair and the bowling. This also means that at least four players are going to be just travelers for the first couple of matches.

Genuinely good seamers, such as Tinu Yohannan and Ashish Nehra, whom India were looking to groom with the World Cup in mind, may thus not get the all-important break that they were looking for. I think this tour of the West Indies is the best place to start the preparations for the 2003 World Cup if we wish to have the remotest possibility of going through the preliminary rounds, leave alone win the trophy.

With this win under their belt, Anil Kumble finishing the game with 7-55 and Harbhajan Singh doing equally well, India will probably field two spinners for the first Test; if Harbhajan does not recover from his injury fast enough, Sarandeep Singh might play. That ploy may spell doom for India, considering that the likes of Carl Hooper, Shivnaraine Chanderpaul and Brian Lara are all excellent players of spin. I think India's best bet would be to play just one spinner and give more seamers a break. There has been talk about the slow pitches in the West Indies of late, but I would be willing to wager they are still more sporting than the ones we find in India.

India could have done better by resting their key players for the tour match, giving a chance to players like Yohannan, Ajay Ratra and maybe even Wasim Jaffer. It is time we realise that we need a pool of players for the upcoming World Cup, and there is no way we can get there with two spinners. This could be the time to let go our over-dependency on spin. I am, of course, aware that this is a Test series, and that one-dayers are a different ball-game altogether.

The tour opener has left the team management in an indecisive frame of mind. It leaves them no option but to play two spinners (since they did well against a second-string state team), but that is a dreadful idea in itself. The opening pair is still vulnerable, which also means that we will have a wicket-keeper who is famed more for let-offs than dismissals. While most teams try to experiment with the various options they have with them in a tour opener, India have only proved that they can beat a weak domestic side.

While a lot has been said about the poor form of the current West Indies team, as well as the contest between Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar, I think India still need to come together as a team to beat the West Indies. It will take some clever thinking from the selectors and good team-work from the players to beat them. Sitting on the laurels of having won the tour opener is not going to help India's cause in any way. Whether, this time around, India will notch up the away series win that has eluded them for 16 long years, only time will tell.

The views expressed above are solely those of the guest contributor and are carried as written, with only minor editing for grammar, to preserve the original voice. These contributed columns are solely personal opinion pieces and reflect only the feelings of the guest contributor. Their being published on CricInfo.com does not amount to an endorsement by CricInfo's editorial staff of the opinions expressed.
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