Uzair Rizvi, BeyondHeadlines
India are eyeing a first ever double ODI and Test Series win in the Caribbean when they face West Indies in the last(third) test at Windsor Park in Dominica on Wednesday.
India have only enjoyed a test series success twice in Windies, first in 1971/72 and second in 2006/07 seasons with both victories coming in the form of 1-0 win.
Courtesy: AFP
India are 1-0 up in the series with one game to play, the better weather in Barbados might have sealed the series 2-0 there only, but their batting woes continue to haunt them as they are yet to cross the 300 runs mark in Caribbean.
The wicket in Roseau, Dominica is expected to have a lot of pace and bounce something that Indian openers need to tackle.
Dropped from England tour, Kohli and Vijay had a forgetful tour, they are likely to be replaced by in-drafted Parthiv Patel for the England Series and Badrinath might make a comeback.
Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman have been the backbone of the batting order and the visitors will want them to prove their significance. The batting revolves around the perennial assurance of these two old warhorses.
Suresh Raina has been far above the rest that is why he finds his place for the England Tour.
Skipper’s performance with the bat has been poor, who has not made a single useful contribution in this series.
Abhinav Mukund might just be immune because of his gritty score of 48 in the second innings in Barbados.
It is difficult to foresee any change in the bowling attack, if Munaf Patel, who missed the first two games due to injury is fit, then he might come in place of Mithun.
The fast bowlers have made up handsomely for the failed batting attack, particularly the seam duo of Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar.
Kumar with his swing have troubled the hosts while Ishant with his line and length ripped apart the Windies.
Harbhajan is sure of retaining his place, may be because of his batting contributions late down the order. He is just two wickets away from the 400 wickets club and would hope that landmark collides with an Indian win.
Just like the visitors, West Indies too have struggled with their batting display. Poor batting has been their biggest nemesis.
Chanderpaul showed some signs off resilience but Sarwan has failed miserably in the series. That has eventually led to his ouster from the third test. Kierron Pollard has replaced him.
Simmons had a failure at the top so young Powell might get a booking in the final 11.Encouraging for them was Samuels application with the bat and the aggressive intent of Baugh.
Darren Bravo is the sole shinning light in the darkness and so far has done a great job with the bat.
Their bowlers have been doing the job with Bishoo and Rampaul being the most impressive.Rampaul’s seaming in/away deliveries have troubled the Indian batsmen. They have been competitive with the ball throughout the series.
Edwards had a good comeback. Skipper Sammy might fancy in bringing express Roach on a pacy track but this looks highly unlikely.
The weather forecast does not sound sweet as showers are predicted on each of the five days.
The hosts have showed definite signs of improvement and would like to make an in road for the final test to square the series where as the visitors have their eyes on creating a history, which will boost their confidence ahead of a much tougher series in England.
