The West Indian batsmen used the momentum they had gained in Kolkata to win the first one-dayer of the TVS Cup. Both Wavell Hinds and Marlon Samuels showed that they had gotten into the groove, and hopefully the team will see more useful contributions from them in the rest of the series. Of course, Ramnaresh Sarwan played the most crucial innings, and it was nice to see him prove both his talent as well as his ability to keep his head in a tough situation.

I thought we made heavy weather of reaching the target after the forced break, but I can’t be too harsh on the guys, since such unforeseen stoppages can break the rhythm, and in this case, the light had also deteriorated by the time the players returned to the field.

As far as the crowd misbehaviour was concerned, enough has been said about how disappointing it was. I take this opportunity to say that during my playing days, Indian crowds had the reputation of loving their cricket and applauding even visiting players. I have scored a few runs in these parts, and I remember crowds applauding me whenever I reached a personal milestone.

Sadly, the current spectators don’t seem to love cricket, only Indian cricketers. I am saddened to note that no one claps when a West Indian reaches a 50 or takes a wicket. One would not have guessed that Sarwan had reached a half-century at Jamshedpur because the crowd simply ignored it. Indians have a reputation of being cricket-crazy and well-mannered at the same time. However, if they continue to behave like they did in Jamshedpur, they are in danger of losing that reputation.

Coming to the Nagpur game, there are some areas in which the West Indians must tighten up. The bowling can be tighter, and the fielding must be a lot sharper. It was great to see Vasbert Drakes get into his rhythm immediately. His dismissal of Virender Sehwag was a highlight for me. It was a well-thought-out dismissal, and it proved that there are chinks in the youngster’s defences that can be sorted out by thinking bowlers.

One of the golden rules of team selections is that you don’t change a winning combination. So if the players are fit, the same 11 cricketers should play for the West Indies. On the Indian side, I think their main problem in Jamshedpur was that both their spinners - Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh - did not get their line right. This can happen to bowlers when they come out of Tests into one-dayers. However it is to the credit of the West Indian batsmen that they got on top of the spinners and did not give them any margin of error.

The West Indies have drawn first blood, but they will have to keep up this form for the rest of the series. The number of one- dayers and the travelling makes that a tough ask, and the visitors are aware that the Indians will come hard at them at Nagpur. We move from eastern India to the west, and hopefully the West Indians will carry their good form with them as they travel right across this country.

Other Articles by Vivian Richards:

• Indians outclassed in all departments at Vijayawada (26 November 2002)
• Too many crucial catches have been dropped (24 November 2002)
• Ganguly's absence could hit the Indians hard (21 November 2002)
• Gayle put me in mind of Lloyd (18 November 2002)
• A Sarwan century would be the icing on the cake (15 November 2002)
• The West Indies must carry their momentum (9 November 2002)
• A crucial series for the fringe players (5 November 2002)
• The West Indies playing for pride (30 October 2002)
• Getting Dravid out early is crucial for the West Indies (17 October 2002)
• Indian tour a golden opportunity for youngsters (9 October 2002)

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