AHMEDABAD, India, CMC – Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar has launched a scathing critique of the West Indies’ dramatic decline in Test cricket, branding their current pace attack as looking “more like net bowlers” after a meek surrender to India in the first Test.
The match, which India won by an innings and 140 runs, was so one-sided that it was overshadowed by other news, a stark contrast to the era when a victory over the West Indies would have sent shockwaves across the globe. The
Caribbean side’s performance, both with bat and ball, painted a picture of a team far removed from its storied past.
Gavaskar, in his column for Sportstar, expressed his disbelief at the toothless West Indies bowling, reserving criticism for all but one bowler.
“In Ahmedabad, apart from Jayden Seales, the other two were simply trundlers,” Gavaskar wrote.
“No disrespect intended to them, but to see the first bouncer being bowled after half a dozen overs had been bowled made one ask, ‘Is this really the West Indies pace attack?’”
He acknowledged the effort required for a bouncer but emphasized its importance as a “surprise weapon” to intimidate batters, a tactic famously synonymous with the West Indies teams of yesteryear.
The gulf between the two teams was even more evident with the bat. While Indian batters, including centurions KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel, and Ravindra Jadeja, piled on the runs, the West Indies’ resistance was minimal.
Gavaskar noted that only Alick Athanaze and Justin Greaves showed any appetite for a fight, with their top scores of 38 and 32, respectively, underscoring the team’s batting frailties.
The former India captain drew a painful comparison with the legendary batters of Caribbean cricket’s golden age.
“For a team that once boasted of the likes of Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd, Gordon Greenidge, and Brian Lara, there is simply nobody in this current team who looks like getting a million country miles close to them,” Gavaskar lamented.
The current state of affairs represents a dramatic reversal of fortunes. During Gavaskar’s own playing career (1971-1987), India won only five of the 31 Tests against the West Indies.
Remarkably, the West Indies have not managed a single Test victory against India since 2002, with India dominating the last 25 encounters, winning 15 of them.
and then 