Jason Holder’s men will face an uphill battle today against a powerful Indian side as both teams kick-start their ICC World Test Championships campaign.
The ICC World Test Championship has nine Test-playing nations competing over a two-year period, with a final between the two top nations to be played in 2021.
Bilateral series remains the key component in the Championship but for the first time, points are up for grabs in each match meaning there are no “dead rubbers”.
The challenge for Windies comes in the face of the obvious variance in the professional quality between the two sides which is evident on the MRF ICC rankings.
India holds the top spot on the rankings board while the Windies are two places from the bottom ranked only ahead of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.
However, daunting as the task may seem, the newly minted Test Championships presents an opportunity for Holder and co. to put the doubters to bed and play to land a spot in the top four at the end of the championships.
That is a reasonable expectation rather than hoping Holder will lift the test Championship Mace.
It will be interesting to watch and there is a sense of hope in the current batch.
Although their overall results aren’t much to speak of, there is that growing optimism within the region that the Test Unit has been steadily improving. Let’s not dig too far into the past for evidence of such; the most recent test performance against England where the Caribbean men won 2-1, is encouraging enough.
They have since added test legend Brian Lara and Ramnaresh Sarwan to the fold. The duo is tasked with sharpening the current crop’s mental approach.
“It’s a good group of young players, we just have to get them thinking in the right way,” Lara said during a recent ESPN interview.
North Sound though is no fortress for the Caribbean side; it’s perhaps more of a makeshift fort that can do a job but can be breached.
Of the seven previous test matches, West Indies have won three – a nine-wicket win over New Zealand in 2012 and an innings and 219 run win over Bangladesh in 2018.
Their most notable win came in January over England, a 10-wicket triumph which sealed a memorable series win.
West Indies have played India in North Sound in 2016; they were on the wrong side of an innings and 92 run loss after being put to the sword by` King’ Kohli, who struck an even double century, while Ravichandran Ashwin came in handy after scoring a century and grabbed a seven – for. The other three matches were drawn encounters – twice against England, the other against Australia.
Both Kholi and Ashwin are expected to once again give Windies the chills. Then there are Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara and Rohit Sharma.
Jasprit Bumrah returns to the fold after missing the one – day leg of the tour and with the dependable Ishant Sharma, it will be key upfront with the new ball while Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindrasinh Jadeja, will find the pitches in the region ideal to execute their craft.
For West Indies, Kraigg Brathwaite’s form and partnership with John Campbell at the top of the innings will be a vital buffer for the middle order.
Darren Bravo’s experience will have to show its head while Shai Hope will need to make his test match appearances count.
It is believed that Shimron Hetmyer’s attacking instincts could lead the side to brilliance or doom. He may need to be more match aware to give the all-rounders in Jason Holder, Roston Chase and Shawn Dowrich the opportunity to express themselves in the lower-middle order.
Meanwhile, the camera will be fixed on the burly Rahkeem Cornwall, more particularly with the ball in hand; West Indies’ competitive cutting edge could be tangent on his wicket-taking prowess.
Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel have been steady in the last couple of seasons with their pace and aggression with the new ball.
