West Indies get what they've begged for

Well it might have just come in as a surprise for all those curious fans of West Indies cricket out there when their favorite team inflicted a 10 wicket defeat on Pakistan yesterday at Guyana. But, to me who has been following the West Indies cricket from the past decade, this should come in as no surprise with the series already decided two one dayers back with Pakistan leaving absolutely no stone unturned in their approach against the West Indies. Of course, the West Indies earlier in the tournament beaten Pakistan in a game that was cut short at Bridgetown.

That was in the 4^th one day international by which time West Indies had already meekly surrendered to the Pakistan team no matter where they were playing them. West Indies had lost the series 3-0 to Pakistan after the touring country had taken an unassailable lead in the five match one day series. Added to that would be the fact that the game was truncated to 30 overs after Pakistan had scored 248 runs on the board. Though not enough in today's limited overs cricket, the total was far from enough when the opposition they were facing came into consideration.

One can see the West Indian cricketers rejoicing their thumping 10 wicket win over the sub-continent nation unaware of their losses in the previous three encounters prior to that and the one off game that proved to be lucky for the hosts. I can remember the West Indies beating Australia on three successive occasions in a 7 match series after losing to the Aussies 4-0 in the first four one dayers that preceded this. Then, the West Indians were responsible in stopping the 21 match winning streak of Australia that started from the VB series involving England and Sri Lanka and went on through the world cup 2003.

The very same thing happened in the test series when the West Indies miserably lost the first three tests and won the 4^th test which made news for the highest ever run chase in a test match that stands even today. All credit to Brian Lara who bought out the best from the worst from his team. If West Indies were even a little bit serious about their cricket, they should have had at least one win before handing out a series to the touring country. A consolation win is the last thing that any team ever dreams about. However, this was far better than a 5-0 whitewash.

Is Gayle warning under performers or the WICB?

Well the world is still aware of the way most of the senior West Indian cricketers went on strike at this time last year owing to some disputes regarding the contract of the players. This in turn made way for the young legs from the Caribbean to make it to the playing XI no matter what the result of the match or the series had to say. West Indies became the first test playing nation to not only lose a test and a one day series to Bangladesh but also became the first ever team to get whitewashed by Bangladesh. And what is worse! This happened to the West Indians on their home ground.

Now, ahead of West Indies' series against South Africa that is due in a week, Chris Gayle has threatened his fellow teammates to breathe their last in West Indies cricket in case they fail to perform in the upcoming series against South Africa. It was the very same West Indian in Chris Gayle who had predicted a 4-1 series win for his team over Australia in Australia in the five match one day series played earlier this year. Whatever, personal views stand apart unless they are proved wrong and Chris Gayle happened to be one or another such lad who made a meaningless statement.

Whatever, coming to Chris Gayle's current statement wherein he warns his under performers especially batsmen to quit in case they fail to be upto the mark in the upcoming series against the Proteas. It is more of a reality that the Chris Gayle led West Indies team is bound to crash this time as well like it has been happening since almost a decade against South Africa. And the funny aspect of all these is that the first culprit for the West Indies' team's debacle happens to be Chris Gayle himself. In that case, the very first player to be shown the doors would have to be Gayle himself before anybody else.

No doubt that Gayle is the only answer in today's West Indian cricket for he along with Chanderapaul form almost 75% of their batting though not being able to win games for West Indies but save some face for them by reducing the margin of defeat from a miserable one to a healthy defeat. In case Gayle's words are really meant and the WICB takes the step of banning under performers, one can imagine the fate of the team which would not be different from the one that faced lost to Bangladesh last year. Putting it simple, what can one do when there is such a scarcity of talent in the West Indies team. Of course, banning is not the solution, in case of any doubt, ask PCB.

Chris Gayle's words come true in the Zimbabwe series

Well the world would not have forgotten the West Indies' captain - Chris Gayle's words when he was found predicting a 4-1 victory for his team ahead of the 5 match one day series that they played last month. This no doubt would have obviously made some people laugh and other ignore Gayle's words. However, Chris Gayle's words were found coming true in the 5 match one day series against Zimbabwe when his team crushed Zimbabwe by a 4-1 margin yesterday after West Indies won the fifth one dayer by 4 wickets. This was the third 4 wicket victory that the West Indies had in this tournament.

The 4-1 victory prediction that Gayle had predicted ahead of the West Indies - Australia bilateral series didn't even turn out to be 1-4 in favor of the West Indies and moreover, it would have been a 5-0 loss had the third one dayer been taken off smoothly which finally had to be abandoned. Anyways, if the series between the West Indies and Zimbabwe is considered, though it would not have been a great guess for anyone who'd have bet on the West Indies, the converse also had an equal share, taking into account their poor performance since the retirement of the bowling trio Ambrose-Walsh-Bishop a decade ago.

Added to that was the fact that West Indies lost the only T20 game earlier where they failed to even chase down 105 runs and then in the first one dayer at Guyana West Indies lost the game by 2 runs which added another unwanted feather in their cap. And though since that game the West Indies have never dared to look back, the victory was hardly enough to silence all even a little bit of critics. It was only the Kingston one dayer which the West Indies won by 141 runs that could draw some appreciation. And, when it comes to the remaining three matches, if not for the win, no other way can anyone be convinced with the performance of the West Indies team.

Being the home team and having a last laugh against a non testing team against Zimbabwe speaks for itself about the caliber the West Indies team have in them off late. Chasing a target of just above 150 or 200 should have seen them lose not more than 3 wickets or at the most 5 wickets. So should have been the overs they needed to go past the Zimbabwean total which saw them crawl upto the late 40s to reach the target. If a team like the West Indies has such a bad fate, one can think of another Zimbabwe when no one bets on the West Indies. If the cricketing world loses a test team like the WI, there would be just 6 teams playing decent cricket with Bangladesh & WI crashing out.

Should the WICB also follow the PCB?

This would not have been the case even if the Pakistani players had involved themselves into some sort of scandal like the match fixing one. Neither this would have been the case had the players backing out from a tour citing some unnecessary reasons. But, the decision that the PCB has taken needs a thorough analysis. This was and is the way the PCB had earlier dealt with the Pakistani speedster Shoaib Akthar, who even today has not been able to make it back to the international arena and has no option but to cool his heels doing what he thinks is 2^nd best to playing cricket.

One need not be specially mentioned that the action taken by the PCB against 7 of its players is totally baseless. This is not the first time that the PCB has taken such a stand against its players. Earlier in 2003, after Pakistan failed to go past the 1st round in the world cup at South Africa, 8 of the Pakistani players namely Wasim akram, Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq, Saeed Anwar, Shoaib Akthar, Inzamam Ul Haq, Saeed Anwar and Rashid Latif were sacked from international cricket. And, a year later, it had be the same Inzaman to come back and lead Pakistan to a test win against Bangladesh, when all seemed to be lost for Pakistan.

Luckily, Shoaib's ban was revoked when he appeared in the tri series featuring Sri Lanka, Pakiatan and New Zealand very soon after his suspension from the team. And now, the PCB has taken the same approach towards their players for losing the Aussie tour. One has to wonder as to what would the PCB gain after sacking these players. It was the PCB who pushed Younus Khan to play against Australia and now the same player is sacked. And, when these players, among whom were senior players as well are shown the doors, upon who does the PCB rely to take the Pakistani cricket forward?

It is not only Pakistan who have failed to return with a win against Australia in Australia. Even the West Indies who were found touring the same Australia returned without a single win from Australia. All the West Indies could achieve was a drawn test at Adelaide and then a 4-0 defeat as against the 5-0 defeat the Pakistan had. Though it is agreed that the one off match was abandoned which would have seen the West Indies also crumble to a 5-0 defeat. And, the Pakistan team atleast came close to winning the T20 game unlike the West Indies who gave it away totally without a fight. So, should the WICB also follw PCB?

Baggy Green gets its due

For the first time since 2006-07, the year Australia switched to the Baggy green uniform which was until then sun yellow, Australia managed to not only win the series but also wipe out the opposition as though it was dust on a smooth wall. It was in the Commonwealth Bank series 2006-07 that included England and New Zealand when Australia wore the baggy green for one dayers. And also was the season since Commonwealth Bank took over the sponsorship of the tri nation one day tournament that is held in Australia every year. Until then, it was known as Victoria Bitter series or in short the VB series.

And, since 2008-09, the policy of a tri nation tournament was scrapped for reasons best known by cricket Australia and was converted into a bi-lateral series divided into two halves. But, the moment Australia switched to baggy green, all sorts of disasters started. And these disasters were even worse than losing a series. For, Australia were in the driver's seat throughout the tournament and only lost the finals of the Commonwealth Bank series. In 2006-07, Australia were found winning 7 out of the 8 games played against England and NZ in the league stages only to lose the finals 2-0 to England.

Then, in 2007-08, it was India & Sri Lanka along with Australia who participated and Australia won 5 out of the 7 games played, with a loss each to Sri Lanka and India in the league stages. Once again, it was Australia who lost the series after India won the two finals in the best of three. Then, in 2008-09, the tri nation tournament was converted into two bi-lateral series' against RSA and NZ, with the former being won by South Africa 4-1 and the latter being leveled 2-2 in the five match series that were played. There, Australia did a mini South Africa.

Finally, in the current Commonwealth Bank series' that involved five match bi-lateral series' against Pakistan and West Indies, Australia not only won the series but also whitewashed the opposition completely. Australia failed to lose even a single one day or a T20 game against both Pakistan and West Indies. All that could not go well with Australia was the 4th one dayer against the West Indies which was abandoned due to rain. Or else, Australia could have well boasted of a 14 match unbeaten streak in ODIs after winning 5 ODIs against Pakistan, 4 against WI and 2 against India last year.

A 4-1 prediction doesn't even turn out to be 1-4

Finally, yesterday Australia complete the formality by winning the fifth and the final one dayer against the West Indies by 125 runs at Melbourne. I wish one has to go through the statement that the West Indies captain Chris Gayle gave prior to the series that West Indies would win the series 4-1 against Australia. Was Chris Gayle that innocent to make such statements or did he expect fools to be out there listening to him jobless? Or, did he predict the loss to be 4-1 favoring West Indies? But, even that didn't happen. So, what was Chris Gayle saying?

May be Gayle included the warm up game against PM XI that West Indies won convincingly. In that game, Chris Gayle scored 146 runs with a strike of over 150. But, still that ends the result to be 1-5. Or, was Chris Gayle gifted with a sixth sense that made him predict a wash out in one of the 5 games that were scheduled as a part of the series? Forget about winning, the West Indies didn't even come close to winning one in the four games that was held. Starting from game 1 played at Melbourne, West Indies set to chase 257 for victory didn't even score 150.

And, in the 2^nd one dayer played at the Adelaide Oval, the target of 171 imposed by Chris Gayle's men was surpassed in just above 26 overs. Added to that, West Indies didn't even play 40 overs correctly to claim something to have been achieved by them. And, in the 3rd one dayer scheduled at Sydney, major cricketing sites blame the rain to have played a spoilsport and deny the West Indies a would be possible win. All statements being made by considering the total of 225 put up by Australia on the board. Though a total of 225 is modest, it doesn't hold true as far as the West Indies is concerned.

One has to wonder as to how come a team that has not been able to cross 200 in the earlier games that it has played manages to chase 225. Then, in the 4^th one dayer at Brisbane, West Indies, despite losing the game yet again to Australia put up a comparatively better performance when the team scored 274 runs on the board. This was the first time the West Indies put up a total in excess of 200 in the series and was also the first time the West Indies played the complete quota of 50 overs that they were entitle to play. And the fifth ODI is well in front of us. So, what is Gayle's say about the T20 games scheduled?