The West Indies selectors made a bold move to draft in Devendra Bishoo. It is now left for the tour officials to make the decision work.
If Chris Gayle is not fit to play either of West Indies’ two remaining World Cup matches, Bishoo would be a better bet than Nikita Miller for those crucial matches.
Sitting second in the Group B points table, the Caribbean side looks good, but they by no means are safely through to the quarter finals as yet.
India’s defeat by South Africa on Saturday has thrown the door open even wider than it was previously for those four quarter final places.
As it stands, West Indies need at least one more victory to confirm their progression.
Should Bangladesh upset South Africa and beat the Netherlands as they are expected to, the third host for this 2011 World Cup could steal that place from West Indies, if the latter loses to India and England.
Both games could well be the most important ones in the Windies’ first round assignment.
India with monstrous crowd support and needing to win their final game to cement their place in the final eight will be pumped up in Chennai this weekend while England, facing a must-win dilemma, will be throwing all their artillery at the Windies on Thursday, also in Chennai.
In the event Gayle is fit to play, West Indies will not need another bowler, hence it means the out of sorts Miller should be dropped regardless, as it makes little sense retaining him if his compatriot Jamaican does not show up.
Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Darren Sammy and Sulieman Benn formed the core of the bowling attack against Ireland and with Gayle’s seeming uncomplicated, but tricky off spin, he will complete the other overs, with help from Kieron Pollard, if need be from now onwards.
On current form Bishoo is superior to Miller and should be the man to enter the fray if Gayle is still sidelined, in contrast to the decision to include the Jamaican against Ireland.
The wrist spinner from Berbice has been picking up wickets in the Regional competitions like country kids do in mango season.
He is younger than Miller has great potential and has not disappointed at all the levels in his young career, and therefore must be a no-brainer choice for the Windies to invest in the final 11 presently.
Whether it be West Indies ‘A’ or Guyana, Bishoo has lined up victims through raw, natural ability and steely determination.
Even the great Sachin Tendulkar was moved enough to publicly compliment the Guyanese after Bishoo made him his most prized scalp at the IPL Champions League in South Africa last year.
Sources close to India’s greatest batting legend attest that Rohan Kanhai’s batting exploits created a healthy respect in Tendulkar for Berbice players.
Yet even if he was influenced by a little sentiment in recognizing Bishoo’s class by rewarding him with the autographed ball from that Guyana versus Mumbai encounter in South Africa the Guyanese, with an 86-wicket first-class haul and averaging 27.31, has been mounting the upward curve even since he burst on the scene three years ago whereas Miller seems stuck in a slump.
The Jamaican, with his left arm orthodox spin has been ineffective in the World Cup when given opportunities to bowl as was the case in his last two ODI series outings against Sri Lanka and South Africa, after having mixed returns versus Zimbabwe prior, in the 2009/10 West Indies international season.
At Chennai, the pitch has been a spinners paradise and with everything to play for, West Indies would be naïve not to ensure it is at full strength in those two key games there.
Gayle’s presence will be vital against two of their three strongest foes in the “Group of Death”.
West Indies’ batting is still suspect and against India and England, it could well easily buckle under the heavy artillery those two desperate teams will unleash.
That weakness was clearly obvious in the Sri Lanka warm-up series and also against the inauspicious Ireland attack before Pollard’s late order blitz saved the Caribbean team’s blushes.
Therefore should Gayle not play, the bowling will have to be beefed up to compensate and Bishoo’s expertise is the best available to the Windies.
The much-criticized captain, Sammy has backed up his efficient tactical ploys in the field with effective bowling against Bangladesh and Ireland. Even though his victims were from two of the competition’s lesser recognized teams, it has stamped him down as an automatic bowling member of the attack.
However, West Indies has to be ready to compensate for off days from Roach and Benn, the attack’s spearheads. It might or might not occur in games five and six, and more so without Gayle, Bishoo should be given the chance to not only impress Tendulkar again, but all of India this time around.
