India are looking to wrap up their second straight Test series victory over West Indies in the Caribbean, when the second Test begins at Kensington Oval here on Tuesday.
The Indians hold a 1-0 lead in the three Test series, following a 63-run victory inside four days in the first Test at Sabina Park in Jamaica.The visitors also looked set to create a piece of history by becoming the first Indian team to win a Test and One-day International series in the Caribbean – but India will also have to rail against their history at the ground to accomplish that feat here. The World No.1 side have an unflattering record at the ground, locally referred to as ‘the Mecca of Caribbean cricket’.
India have lost their last five Tests since they drew with Garfield Sobers’ side in 1971, and have hardly pushed West Indies in the seven Tests they have played at this venue over the years. Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team still have cause for optimism though – following a 10-wicket defeat for Sourav Ganguly’s side nine years ago, West Indies have lost six of the eight Tests they have played at this venue.
The current state-of-play between the two sides means that the Indians have an excellent opportunity to jettison the failures of past Indian teams here. The visitors enter the contest with few or no problems, after their bowlers covered well for them in the first match, when the batting could only post par totals of 246 and 252. India’s major concern would be deciding on the final bowling attack, whether to keep leg-spinner Amit Mishra, or swap him for fit-again medium-fast bowler Munaf Patel on what is likely to be a lively pitch. They may also opt to boost the top of their batting, replacing one of the openers with Parthiv Patel, hoping for a little more stability than they had in the Jamaica capital of Kingston. Purposeful bowling was West Indies’ strength in the first Test, but solid batting will be the key to them avoiding another defeat. The problem has been inflated by the simultaneous lack of form for the experienced pair of Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, as well as the unresolved dispute between Chris Gayle and the West Indies Cricket Board, which has robbed the batting of a more competitive edge.
West Indies’ answer to the crisis has been to invite world-famous sports psychologist Rudi Webster to help cultivate a greater mental toughness for the players, but this is only a stop-gap measure, since he’ll only be working with them for the duration of the Test. They have also replaced vice captain Brendan Nash with Kirk Edwards, but the hometown boy is not expected to play. Instead, Marlon Samuels will get another chance to prove his value to the team, after he was overlooked for the previous Test in his homeland.
There have been suggestions that West Indies shorten their batting to include fast bowler Kemar Roach, giving the attack a stiffer look, and hoping to put India’s batting under further pressure. But this is hardly likely to occur, except there is a guarantee that the conditions would highly favour the faster bowlers throughout the match.