Though one should be happy that India beat West Indies in the 3rd Test, after royally goofing up on the last day of the 2nd Test that enabled WI to escape with a draw, the feel good factor is missing somehow.
This WI team is for the taking - no disrespect meant to them. If Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels is their best batsmen, it doesn't say much. Their bowling in the 3rd test showed some teeth with Gabriel, Cummins and Joseph, which augurs well for the future. If only they could find 3-4 good batsmen!!!
But this post is about India. Everyone is going ga-ga about Virat's captaincy. He is more aggressive than Dhoni, but his real test will come against higher ranked teams.
India panicked at the end of second Test. Their selection for the third Test defies logic. You have 3 openers (Vijay, Dhawan, Rahul) , one No.3 batsman (Pujara), and another potential Opener/ No.3 in Rahane. If you don't want the slow scoring Pujara (frankly he did look out of sorts in the first two Tests, but no worse than Dhawan did), you would expect Vijay and Dhawan to open, followed by Rahul at No.3, then Kohli and Rahane. Or alternatively, you play Vijay and Rahul, with Rahane coming in at No.3, then Kohli and Rohit (why a dismal repeated offender/failure like Rohit should be persisted with, only the Team Management and Selectors know).
But heck no! You go ahead, drop Vijay (one of the best Test batsman in the side) and open with Dhawan (another Rohit Sharmasque failure) and Rahul, and expose Kohli to number 3! The move royally backfired, and India were in dire straits till Ashwin and Saha pulled them out with Centuries.
Kohli said in the post match interview that every batsman including him should be able to play at any position, but this is not applicable to Rohit Sharma!! Why oh Why?
We also need to take a call on Jadeja. Every one is raving about his 16 in the second innings. Frankly, Mohammed Sami, if sent up the order would have scored that and more! Jadeja has not done anything with the bat for ages in international cricket, nor is his bowling match winning. Is it not better to play a genuine left arm spinner like Iqbal Abdullah? Just watch how brilliant Renganna Herath is for Srilanka with his conventional left arm spin, and compare him with Jadeja. Enough said.
There are quite a few passengers in the team who take their places for granted. Dhawan, Rohit, Jadeja and even Ishant Sharma (it is ridiculous to see him fall over every other over. Why do we have Pace bowling coaches, if they cant fix this?)
Finally, a word about the pathetic umpiring. On the final day Nigel got two decisions horribly wrong. When everyone including my tea boy can see that Cummins has overstepped, we had the ridiculous situation of the decision of out not reversed, just because the on field umpire did not ASK for a replay!!!!
They say the most common thing about common sense is that it is not so common. I have been watch all the three Test Series, with two of them having DSRS. I still cannot understand this Umpire's call business. If the original decision is out, and the ball tracking shows the ball grazing the stumps, then it is Umpire's call and the batsman is out. For the same situation, if the original decision is Not Out, then the batsman is Not Out. This just can't be!. When you go up for a review, it is to be made obligatory on the part of the Third umpire to give a fair decision, and not push it back to on field umpire. It went up in the first place, because people questioned on field umpires decision. Why push it back to him?
