So much for all the sentimental thinking that left Guyana’s cricket team without the strongest possible squad for the biggest assignment of their lives.
The fact that the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) sacrificed necessity for loyalty which resulted in the absence of Shiv Chanderpaul and Rajendra Chandrika among others from the Amazon Conquerors line-up for the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 series, is a moot point now.
The team now has to deal with the resources at hand and following the limp batting performance that resulted in a heavy defeat to the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
It means Guyana has to do things differently for the second game given the resources at their disposal.
The batting line-up clearly has to be adjusted for the crucial second group game against Mumbai Indians tomorrow.
Against much stronger opposition in South Africa, the strategies used to win the Caribbean title clearly will not work now.
Guyana has to throw caution to the wind and use its most successful batsmen at the top of the order to maximize overs for the proven players.
It means that the struggling Narsingh Deonarine either has to be dropped
down the order or out of the team altogether.
He is a liability at number four and was the most deficient of the lot who had difficulties getting the ball off the square on Sunday.
He could do no better than block and push which among other negatives resulted in the run out of the more fluent Sewnarine Chattergoon.
The left-handed Deonarine similarly struggled throughout the Caribbean championship and the top score he made against Trinidad and Tobago in the second practice game was a labored effort which should have been more prolific given the time he spent at the crease.
Captain Ramnaresh Sarwan has to take the bull by the horns and open the batting with Chattergoon, as he seems to have regained his touch given his match winning innings against Trinidad and during his brief stay time at the crease on Sunday.
Less anyone forget it was Chattergoon’s 24-ball 36-run blitz that set the tone for Guyana’s winning total against Trinidad in the CT20 semi finals.
Himself and the in-form Sarwan, is the best combination for a blazing start to the innings.
Jonathan Foo does not have to prove himself as a natural stroke maker and now that he has become the team’s batting trump card, he has to bat at least three places higher as he is being wasted at number seven.
With better opportunities for a longer stay at the crease, Foo is sure to be much more productive.
Against much stronger teams in South Africa though, the chances of him reproducing the cameos he pulled off against West Indian opposition at number seven, will drop significantly.
Chris Barnwell seems a better finisher than a starter so he should make way for Foo at number four with Travis Dowlin at three and Royston Crandon at six. Barnwell’s top score against Bangalore was a solid innings rather than an explosive one, which the team needs at the top. Thus it does not mean he should have an automatic position at number four.
Had Guyana arrived much earlier in South Africa and the GCB attached more importance to team acclimatization, the team’s woeful first game display could have been avoided.
Guyana needed at least two practice games in South Africa to better organize itself for the more powerful opponents and pacy, bouncier pitches, not to mention the cold spring weather.
Arriving four days before their first match proved woefully inadequate for the
players to adjust to the weather and playing conditions completely alien to what they are accustomed to in Guyana.
The board cannot say it was not warned.
Bangalore’s coach Ray Jennings explained that his players were practicing against University teams for a week and, had the GCB displayed more foresight, surely a similar arrangement could’ve been put in place for Guyana through an earlier arrival time, which would not have cost a fortune
Guyana’s coach Ravindranauth Seeram has reportedly been warning the players about the pacy, bouncy pitches.
But talk can never compensate for actual experience in the middle and hopefully, the baptism of fire Guyana endured from Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis and Praveen Kumar, along with the guile of Anil Kumble would better prepare them for Mumbai’s Lasith Malinga, Harbhajan Singh and company come tomorrow.
Seeram would need all the help from Sarwan in motivating the players and strategizing to counter the threat from a desperate Mumbai.
It is a must win game for both teams, but not an impossible task for Guyana.
