Dominica: The cricket matches beginning on Wednesday in Dominica could be characterized as a match between two underwhelming teams.
However, while the hosts' struggles can be attributed to administrative and financial limitations, along with a lack of players who are talented and motivated enough, India has consistently underperformed at major events for the past ten years, despite having the world's richest talent pool for the game and the BCCI's access to powerful financial and administrative resources. India should at the very least compete in the championship rounds of major events, but their continuing failure to do so raises some serious concerns.
The West Indies have been demoted to the second tier of cricket teams, or possibly even lower, at least in white-ball games. Their failure to go past the group round of the T20 World Cup in Australia last year was viewed as a significant setback for a team whose specialty was thought to be the shortest format.
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But at least they arrived in Australia before the competition really got going. In far-off southern Africa, their fate for the 50-over World Cup was set, and they would not be able to compete with India when the major competition began in October.
Many people believe that the outcome of the next two-Test series is already decided. Sunil Gavaskar even stated that “the team that the West Indies is today, you can go one day before the Test match starts and you can still beat them.” But lately, especially at home, the West Indies have not been easy prey in the five-day match. India will undoubtedly start as the clear favorites, but the hosts have a few players in their ranks who could pull off a few surprises.
The tour has been unusually low-key due to the West Indies' declining reputation in white-ball cricket and India's recent dominance in head-to-head matches.
The tour, which also includes three ODIs and five T20Is (two of them in Florida), has not received much publicity, so one could be excused for not realizing that the most closely watched cricket team has moved on to its next task.
The most notable victories for West Indies since the WTC's inception have been two victories over England and one victory over Pakistan, and they have proven to be formidable opponents under comfortable circumstances. Over the past four years, they have won nine tests and lost 15, but since India's last visit, they have won four and lost three.
To pull off a significant upset, their bowlers, especially their pacers, will be primarily responsible. In the previous series as well, India needed help from players like Ravichandran Ashwin after the top order left with few runs on the board.
West Indies' batters have had trouble against both pace and spin when it comes to scoring runs against India. The hosts must post respectable totals on the board if they are to compete, and this obligation starts at the top.
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