Will Pakistan experiment or play serious?

It has been less than a month since Pakistan inflicted a crushing defeat on the West Indies when the touring team lost all 10 wickets for a mere score of 113 on the board and on the other hand failing to strike even a single time. Of course, even England lost the match to Sri Lanka by 10 wickets despite England putting up a total in excess of 200 in the quarter finals. May be, had the West Indies scored above 200, a Pakistani wicket would have made it to the score card. That was just another loss for West Indies and nothing more.

With that apart, news and schedule has it that Pakistan is set to tour West Indies or are already in the country that is facing a lot of trouble in cricket. No prices for guessing the result of the series for even a kid can claim that West Indies are set to lose the series or worst come, may end the tournament without even a single win in both test as well as one day cricket. Couple of days back, news had its say that Gayle may be unavailable for the series, with the current West Indian squad speaking otherwise.

One can see the names of Chanderapaul and Sarwan along with Gayle. In addition to the presence of Chris Gayle and co, one can expect the return of Marlon Samuels for people who are familiar with the name and a chance for people who don't to get to know who this average cricketer is. Since Samuels is not some Mohammed Asif or Shane Warne, his return would hardly bother anyone-not even the WICB. But, the million dollar question is whether Pakistan will go ahead with a full fledged team to face the enemy or will they experiment with their players?

Had I been the Pakistani selector, I would have rested some or most of the key players from the tour though the series is away from home. Teams like Zimbabwe and West Indies (but rarely Bangladesh) can prove to be of some use to viewers only when key players and inform players take a break. Than, one can see a balanced match wherein both teams fight it out on the field. I remember Dhoni resting Schin Tendulkar in one of the games to see how things work with the absence of a star player. That was the reason for Australia to dominate the world cricket for so many years.

Lack of desire from the WICB evident

It is still alive in cricket fans' minds the way the West Indies team surrendered to Bangladesh on their home soil some two years ago, when West Indies made headlines despite the Ashes going on in full bloom on the other side of the cricketing world. West Indies lost three one dayers and two tests to get into the record books for the wrong reasons. If anyone of you would cite the absence of key players to be the reason for their debacle, then I think they have to go through the recently concluded world cup where West Indies had wins only against Bangladesh, Ireland and Holland.

In a way, those wins for the West Indies proved to be of much joy for, despite not deserving to be there, they made it to the quarter-finals of the world cup and they missed losing out to Ireland and Bangladesh to be fortunate unlike England. The immediate decision from the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) was to drop players like Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderapaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan. I doubt whether the West Indies cricket board was inspired by the BCCI whop dropped senior players like Dravid, Ganguly and Anil Kumble from the squad citing reasons that youngsters be given a chance.

This happened to work well for the BCCI for, the Indian team since their drop happened to win two major titles namely the ICC world T20 2007 and the recently concluded ICC world cup. But, if the WICB also follows suit and does what the BCCI did, one can expect the West Indies to be lined along with class 2 teams like Ireland, Kenya, Canada and co. It would be hard to make anyone believe that the highest individual score in test cricket is a West Indian cricketer. It would be hard to convince anyone that West Indies have won two world cups and were the strongest team in those days.

What has happened for Gayle is something that he might have thought to be and liked as well at the same time when he can enjoy the shortest version of the game and earn ten times the amount what he'd earn had he been the part of the squad that would be hosting Pakistan. If Gayle's words are to be believed, he seems not to have got a call from the WICB among the group of players selected for the training camp in Barbados. I wonder what made the WICB give a NOC to Gayle only to condemn him for not preferring his nation above self.

Was it because Gayle was injury hit and his chances of performing against Pakistan was freak that the WICB gave him a NoC? Now that Gayle has received a call from RCB, the WICB have got more furious and come out to condemn Gayle? Stop this nonsense and look out for some No Police State Girls blog.

Sarwan should have been the obvious choice

Well with the current West Indies team facing an acute crisis for talent in terms of both players in form and without it, maintaining the current players who are at least with good class if not in form is quintessential for the West Indies team. The current West Indies team has fellow players like Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderapaul and Dwayne Bravo who can save some face for their team with decent if not extraordinary batting performances. If not for Brian Lara - who retired after the world cup in 2007, none of the players in the current West Indian team have been given the axe.

Now, with the inclusion of Ramnaresh Sarwan, another partial boost to their batting line up can be thought of provided Sarwan is well inform and is included in the playing XI. If not for Nikita Miller and Carlton Baugh, some of the remaining West Indian players seem to be the same with others seeming not so promising like Andre Rusell, Ravi Rampaul and Kemar Roach. None of these players' names have been ever heard in international cricket news be it for the good reasons or for the bad. West Indies has big hitting batsmen like Gayle, Sarwan, Chanderapaul and Kieron Pollard off late.

With the schedule of the world cup being so liberal, it would come as no surprise that West Indies will surely make it to the quarter finals even if they manage wins against Bangladesh, Ireland and Netherlands considering their losses against India, South Africa and England. Coming to Sarwan's case, Sarwan should be the obvious choice rather than tossing a coin before deciding his inclusion or omission from the squad. If Ramnaresh Sarwan's name has to be dropped, then the West Indies team will have to fly to the subcontinent with only 14 players who can officially represent their team.

The 15^th member will only be filling the vacancy left over by Sarwan.One can sense the lack of real life thoughts with the West Indies cricket board naming Darren Sammy as the captain of the world cup touring squad but, I guess should be a positive move which on one hand gives Chris Gayle an opportunity to concentrate on his batting. WICB is believed to have learned their lessons when Brian Lara was made the captain which in turn affected his batting to a little extent though not as much as Sachin Tendulkar. However, in case by chance West Indies manage to make a mark in the quarter finals like they did in 1996, that would be relished for their fans for a long period.

Four more days left for RSA to take an unassailable lead

Well none of you readers need to be told specially that South Africa have begun their campaign in their second test against the West Indies Basseterre successfully after Graeme Smith scored a hundred for, all of you guys are aware of the one and the only site that is solely dedicated to the game of cricket - cricinfo. But, some things based on my point of view needs to be given a consideration atleast in the scope of this blog. Needless to be said, the South African captain Graeme Smith scored 132 on the first day's play against the West Indies which was more than one third of the total score of 296 on the board.

This has to be considered as their path to an unbeatable lead in the series with them already 1-0 up in the series after they won the first test in Antigua last week by 163 runs after they were reduced to 352 in their first innings. But, how should and how does that matter when victory is already granted rather than a possibility? A score of even 200 is enough to see the West Indies home and that too against South Africa. A score of 200 by South Africa would mean that the West Indies will collapse for a score may be just above 100 on the board.

People would have gone sick of me writing the West Indies' down to earth performance on the field, with every match well in front of them. It is more than a possibility that the West Indies will lose to any opposition they face in today's cricket. One need not think twice before having their bet on Bangladesh when they play the West Indies. In case the West Indies are hosting Bangladesh, still the chances of a West Indies win is slightly above 50%. It is fascinating to see Graeme Smith still going in for a full fledged South African team to tackle the West Indies.

On the other hand, the West Indies are found to rest some of their key players like Ramnaresh Sarwan for reasons best known to the West Indies Cricket Board selection panel. South Africa can afford to declare their first innings now itself which can give the cricket lovers a fantastic match. Likewise, South Africa are the team which is making matches involving the West Indies more interesting when they come close to losing the game and end up winning the same. Wow! How poetic it is! By the way, Smith is expected to experiment with his team in matches against West Indies which can prove worth.

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.