The Hindu : Sport : Bowling is Windies' weak link

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Thursday, Mar 08, 2007
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Bowling is Windies' weak link

Nandita Sridhar

MERCURIAL STAR: Themoody Chris Gayle firing at the top could go a logn way in propping up the rest of his side's batting. FILE PHOTO: AP

How does a mercurial captain deal with a mercurial opener and a mercurial team? How does he find a way to defy history? How can a team, repeatedly evaluated against its own past, find its place in history? The West Indians' fate at this World Cup will hinge on how they deal with these questions. How Brian Lara imposes himself, how Chris Gayle performs upfront and how the team finds some consistency will determine its fate in the tournament.

After 1983, West Indian teams have been through many a World Cup as nothing more than emotional favourites. Its fall from lofty heights and sporadic bursts of success has not gone down well with its followers. A win at the World Cup could invigorate them.

For that to happen, the batting must fire. In Gayle, the team has an opener who can treat bowlers like a butcher would a piece of meat. Men like him defy momentum, norm and form. As he perfectly described it himself, his "mood" is what dictates his batting, not the bowler. Gayle firing at the top could go a long way in propping up the rest of the batting.

Brian Lara deserves a winning finale, even if he fails as a batsman. At 37, he is his team's talisman, expected to use his voluminous backlift to wield a sublime bat. Lara is another in-the-moment sort of a batsman, just one hit away from finding touch or losing form.

The others

The batting is further strengthened by the presence of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Marlon Samuels, despite the cloud of match-fixing hanging over Samuels. Dwayne Bravo and Ian Bradshaw form the lower order, and might have to bulk up their batting in the slog overs. The bowling seems the weaker of the two departments, with the squad lacking a running-through-the-side bowler.

The pacy Jerome Taylor has the capacity to fill that slot, provided he shows some consistency. Bradshaw can be extremely frugal, and should do the bulk of the containing, while Bravo's subtle changes in pace could prove crucial in the slog overs.

Darren Powell and Dwayne Smith can be counted on for support. Gayle and Samuels's offspin might figure in the bowling plans as well. The bowling looks to have decent variety, but in tough situations the Windies may be found wanting.

The host will begin its campaign on the back of a 31-16 win-loss record in World Cups so far. But the team now is far removed from the days of Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards. The West Indians have lost 11 out of their last 20 games, which make them infuriatingly inconsistent. It's hard to detect patterns through spasmodic play, but it seems like the team lacks bludgeoners in the lower-order and consistency in its bowling.

The unknown factor

With most of the pitches playing slow, the new re-laid ones might surprise even the host. Traditionally, playing at home should negate the element of surprise, but things might differ this time. It will surprise few if the side makes it to the last-four, and even fewer, if they exit earlier.

Unpredictability creates excitement but causes the occasional let down.

Brian Lara's men might be an exciting bunch, but they would do well to embrace consistency than flair. Records and hosts jinxes (Sri Lanka won as co-host) are meant to be broken.

With former greats like Courtney Walsh and Viv Richards backing them, the West Indians have possibly their best chance to prove that there is more to their cricket than a glorious past.

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