To win in the Windies, give an overdose of the Spin Doctors

Unlike in the past, wickets in the West Indies have slowed down considerably; wickets in both Trinidad and Guyana will be very similar to those in India. The ball will tend to slow down as the match progresses. Barbados will be the fastest wicket and Antigua will prove a good batting track. Jamaica will, in all probability, suit the pace of the West Indian attack.

Looking at the way the tour itinerary is set up, India should look to win at least one of the first two matches to stay in the reckoning. Nothing puts pressure on the opponents like a good victory and the Indian bowlers shouldn’t find it too difficult to adjust. If we aren’t able to perform on wickets which favour Indians, we’ll find the going tough later in the series.

A major role will have to be played by the spinning duo — Harbhajan and Kumble. The West Indians, with the exception of Lara, Chanderpaul and Hooper, basically struggle against spin. Lara, too, is just recovering from an injury and hasn’t played since the series in Sri Lanka. The Indians will have to make sure that Lara, in particular, doesn’t settle down. Once he’s comfortable we can be sure of seeing a spurt in the run-rate. Ganguly will have no choice but to bring on the spinners immediately. Getting Lara out not only gives the bowlers a psychological advantage, but also puts the pressure on the West Indians.

Over a period of time, the spinners have performed well whenever there’s a regular fall of wickets; they start floundering when a partnership starts building. What they lack is a game plan. When Plan A fails, Plan B has to kick in. When we go into a game without prior strategy we tend to loose grip of the situation. The strategy has to be flexible to accommodate different situations. Actually, the strategy be is really simple. You need to play with the batsmen’s egos and believe that you are capable of getting them out. Kumble will need to use his googly and Harbhajan the ball that goes away from the right-hander as a weapon. Not too frequently, though, it’s the element of surprise that will have to fetch them the prized wicket. Keeping the left/right combination in mind, it is important that bowlers not give away too many singles and let the batsmen rotate strike.

West Indians as a rule play aggressively. We need to take advantage of this and try to curb this belligerence. The spinners need to learn to bowl slower through the air and impart more spin to the ball. The batsmen will then find the going more difficult because the ball does not come on to the bat so easily. Should, at any point of time, the bowlers get frustrated, they just need to take a deep breath and bowl a little slower, We tend to make the mistake of bowling faster as the frustration level increases. The batsmen will have to negotiate the flight and spin and only the best will survive.

As far as the Indians, it is very important for them to wrest the initial advantage. If they do so, they stand a bright chance of breaking a long dry spell.