Why Kalli's men were not as bad

The visiting West Indies cricket team have provided enough reason to believe that they are the poorest Caribbean Test side to tour India even though that assessment has been made after only one Test The hosts outclassed outgunned and outwitted them at Rajkot and something similar could well be witnessed in the second and final Test which begins in Hyderabad tomorrowAt one time it was rare for WI to lose a series in India They made their first tour here in 194849 and it took India four more series to beat them when led by Sunil Gavaskar they won a sixmatch rubber 10 in 197879 WI cricket was in disarray in 1978 with their best players involved in Kerry Packers World Series Cricket WSC and thus a second string outfit led by Alvin Kallicharran arrived in India Yet the WI didnt disgrace themselvesKarsan Ghavri who opened the bowling for India with a young Kapil Dev in that series played a big role in that series while bowling pace and spin He remembered feeling confident that some from that WI team would have extended international careers if and when the Packer issue was resolved Unfortunately I cant see anyone from the current team enjoying a long career They look out of depth lack hunger and play far too many T20 shots Ghavri who claimed 27 wickets in 197879 told me on MondayThe 197879 Test series evoked a good level of excitement and the Tests attracted healthy interest despite wet weather affecting three of the six Tests Gavaskar reckoned 30 would have been a true reflection of Indias dominance They WI were a keen enthusiastic and talented bunch and sure enough ran us close in the first two Tests he wrote in his series review for Sportsweek magazine However Gavaskar felt the West Indians lost their grip on the series when Dilip Vengsarkar and Gavaskar himself put on an unconquered record 344 for the second wicket in the third Test at KolkataA lot depended on Kallicharran and he came good in the first Test itself with his 187 which helped WI score 493 in response to Indias 424 a total that included Gavaskars first Test double century on home soil Kallicharran followed that up with 71 in his next innings at Bangalore where the last day was abandoned due to political disturbances After 55 and 46 in Kolkata he scored a vital 98 in Chennai the most thrilling Test of the seriesRookie Kapil Dev contributed to WIs post lunch crisis of 68 for six on the opening day of this Test but Kallicharran played splendidly and put on 100 with Derek Parry for his team to end up with 228 India replied with 255 with 124 of those runs coming from the blade of Gundappa Viswanath Although he enjoyed two lives on a brute of a pitch he deserved every paisa of his R2500 manofthematch earnings Kapil 346 Ghavri 352 and S Venkataraghavan 443 shot out West Indies for 151 and India were set a victory target of 125 Sylvester Clarke and Nobert Phillip resorted to intimidatory bowling and India were reduced to 115 for seven before Kapil and Syed Kirmani saw India through to a threewicket winThe Test was played on a bouncy track Cricket writer Dicky Rutnagur compared it to the WACA in Perth The fifth Test at Delhi was all set to go Indias way but January showers prevented them from winning their second Test of the series Gavaskar was in enviable form slamming his fourth century of the series which he kicked off with a double century in Mumbai Vengsarkar scored a hundred too but the knock of the match was Kapil Devs maiden threefigure score in Test cricketUnbeaten on 94 at the end of Day Two he was belligerent in the very first over of the third day After ondroving Nobert Phillip for a boundary he followed it up by swinging the next ball for a six over squareleg to reach his centuryThe sixth Test at Kanpur was played on a lifeless pitch Faoud Bacchus who missed out on his maiden hundred by four runs in Bangalore thrived on the Green Park belter to score 250 helping his side avoid a followon The draw at Kanpur proved to be an anticlimax in an otherwise memorable series Skipper Kallicharran wicketkeeper David Murray Derek Parry Bacchus and Clarke were chosen again for the West Indies post WSC and several went to South Africa as part of the rebel teamBut two more players ndash Malcolm Marshall and Larry Gomes mdash went on to become critical members of Clive Lloyds allconquering team That proved that there was some quality in the WI tourists of 197879 The WI team that collapsed in Rajkot had a combined experience of 241 Tests more than double that of the 197879 side 113 Tests for their opening Test in Mumbai Yet the current side is a far poorer Unfortunately world cricket is poorer toomiddays group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates