India vs West Indies: In a battle of unequals, Rohit's men begin WTC 2023-25 campaign

There was a time when a tour to the Caribbean triggered cold chills in opponents of all hues. Intimidating crowds baying for blood. Frighteningly tearaway quicks, from Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith through the versatile Garry Sobers, Andy Roberts and Michael Holding, Joel Garner and Malcolm Marshall, Patrick Patterson and Ian Bishop, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh. Destructive batsmen including the three Ws – Frank Worrell, Everton Weekes and Clyde Walcott – through Sobers and Rohan Kanhai, on to Viv Richards and Clive Lloyd, Gordon Greenidge and Alvin Kallicharan, Brian Lara, Carl Hooper and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. And, of course, Chris Gayle, one of only four batsmen to make two triple-hundreds in Test history.

Also read: India vs West Indies: Test series schedule, squads, live TV, streaming

That time, however, is well in the past. From lording over the cricketing landscape with an iron fist, West Indies have been reduced to making up the numbers in the last decade and a half, a motley collection of individuals with decent skills but modest ambitions, not the driven, feisty, charged-up collective that always played as if it had a point to prove. West Indian cricket has been on a steady decline since the heady days came to end in the early 1990s, the lowest of the lows coming earlier this month when, for the first time, they failed to qualify for this winter’s 50-over World Cup.

Also read: WTC 2023-25 full schedule for all 9 teams; India’s fixtures, home and away tours

Today, a visit to the various islands that constitute the West Indies doesn’t hold the same mystique or aura of dread. Yes, there will be a brief examination by pace, but not with the relentlessness with which pairs and quartets hunted batsmen down. Yes, there will be pockets of subliminal batsmanship, but not with the consistency required to win extended games of cricket. Most teams consider the one-time kings of cricket ripe for the picking; apart from the odd flash in the pan such as the home conquest of Joe Root’s England last year, the Caribbeans have seldom delivered.

A new cycle of WTC

It’s here that Rohit Sharma’s India will begin their campaign in the latest cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC), with a two-match showdown beginning in Roseau on Wednesday (July 12). On the face of it, there couldn’t be a greater coming together of unequals. India are ranked No. 1 in the ICC Test charts, Kraigg Brathwaite’s bunch placed a lowly eighth with just Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland ranked below them. India have won every Test series in the West Indies since 2006 – when they ended a 35-year wait for a series triumph – and man for man are the stronger, more experienced unit. By all accounts, they ought to sweep to a 2-0 score line this time around, but then again, things generally aren’t as straightforward as they seem, are they?

Also read: WTC final: India’s wait for ICC trophy continues as Australia win record 9th world title

Despite their exalted status as the top dogs of the Test world, India aren’t quite the dominant force they once were. They have lost two of their last three Tests, including in Indore against Australia in March, and their stocks as a travelling force, built assiduously and with elan under the management combine of Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri, have plummeted substantially in the last 18 months. Their batting is beset with inconsistency and sustained under-achievement, though the bowling continues to be in good hands despite the absence (through injury) of Jasprit Bumrah and the rested Mohammed Shami.

India have allowed themselves the luxury of benching R Ashwin, the No. 1 Test bowler in the world, for Tests outside the sub-continent when they have placed most of their eggs in the pace basket. Ravindra Jadeja’s all-round brilliance has made him the obvious choice as the first spinner in England and South Africa and Australia when India have fielded just the sole tweaker. Ashwin, having bided his time, will get his chance on this tour not just because India are almost certain to play their two best spinners, but also because he has a fabulous record with bat and ball in the Caribbean. Apart from two excellent hundreds in 2016, the off-spinner has picked up 17 wickets in four Tests at a strike-rate (46.2) superior to his impressive career strike-rate (51.8). He will relish the prospect of squaring off against the plethora of left-handers in the West Indian line-up, though he is no slouch against the right-handers, who form the majority of his 474 Test victims.

Also read: India vs WI: Virat Kohli’s struggles outside off-stump continue

Chance for youngsters to shine

With Bumrah and Shami away and Umesh Yadav dropped, this will be a test of Mohammed Siraj’s ability to lead a Test attack. There is a distinct touch of inexperience among the fast bowlers, with Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini and the uncapped Mukesh Kumar battling for two slots. Thakur lends depth to the batting, Unadkat offers the left-arm over angle and Saini pace, while Mukesh has been rewarded for consistency at the domestic level and will be itching to have a go at the Caribbeans.

Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, more than Rohit, will be under pressure to deliver, no matter how the narrative is managed otherwise. Since the start of 2020, the former skipper averages 29.69 in 25 Tests; in the same period, the corresponding numbers for Rahane are 26.50 in 20 games. Rahane has also strangely been named Rohit’s deputy after only making a Test comeback last month in the WTC final following 16 months in the wilderness in a further indication that Indian cricket is reluctant to let go of the past and step forward into the bold new future.

Also read: India vs West Indies | 1st Test: Gill at No. 3, Jaiswal to open, says Rohit

The axe having fallen on Cheteshwar Pujara, the opportunity for at least one of Yashasvi Jaiswal or Ruturaj Gaikwad to impress has opened up. These two and the wonderfully gifted Shubman Gill should form the nucleus of the Indian batting going forward; Gill has already made the right moves and has at least one international century in every format and looms as the inspiration for the other young batsmen looking to make a name for themselves. While the conditions will nominally be alien to them, Caribbean pitches have shed much of the spice of the past and are more sub-continental than anything else, which should immediately make the young guns feel at home.

West Indies have nothing to lose and therefore will fancy having a royal go at their more fancied opponents, but if India play anywhere near their potential, this should be smooth sailing. Whether they will, is the million-dollar question.

Also read: No West Indies in World Cup 2023: Caribbean cricket’s latest debacle no surprise

Also read: India pick Jaiswal, Ruturaj for West Indies Tests; Pujara gets the axe

Also read: India T20I squad for West Indies series: No Kohli, Rohit; Hardik captain