Test West Indies Tour of India, October 2025 (2 Tests)

[PhatBoy]

Warrican, time to do your thing

A couple of early tricks from the pacers getting the odd one to keep low near the stumps would be handy too

 

[Plugger35]

This looks like a waste of a review.

 

[Bedi]

The Warricane strikes in his first over. 9 to go!

 

[PhatBoy]

That’s filth

 

[Plugger35]

Jaiswal gone, that hurts India's chances of winning this game tonight.

 

[PhatBoy]

Oh dear

 

[Plugger35]

That's a nasty one for Rahul.

He might have to retire hurt.

 

[sabso]

This has headingley 1981 written all over it.

 

[Plugger35]

This has headingley 1981 written all over it.

Who is going to be the Windies version of Bob Willis?

 

[sabso]

Who is going to be the Windies version of Bob Willis?

Jomel Dylan Warrican of course

Unless Jayden Seales is going to evolve into Jayden Dewgongs

 

[Plugger35]

It looks like this test will be going to Day 5, India look to have shut up shop so even with the extra half hour they won't win it.

 

[Bedi]

Needs to be this over

 

[PhatBoy]

We need to find a spinner that can get some overspin on the ball. We have a lot of spinners that you could throw in a series for raging turners ala the Pakistan tour earlier this year and they would do a job. Hell even Pierre would probably manage it, Motie would. Warrican is our poor-man’s Jadeja who is relatively accurate, makes the batsmen play and you can more or less take him anywhere but he’s not going to do a catastrophic amount of damage MOST of the time.
So I would take that as a major learning out of this series if they didn’t already know it.
The late changes with the quicks didn’t help and Phillip and Layne were probably on a hiding to nothing being pitched in at the last minute. They won’t get a much harder assignment than this. Not sure either of them are up to test cricket but wouldn’t put a line through them based on this - maybe wait until after NZ first. Seales has bowled well enough without much going for him. We already knew he could bowl anyway.

At least the batting has shown us who probably has the makings of what it takes. I think King may have done his dash personally. He has some lovely strokes in his repertoire but his technique is a bit suspect against anything straight, that’s before addressing his decision making.
The rest have JUST shown enough. Chase has shown absolutely nothing as a captain to justify why he has the role.

I would love to see Holder back in the mix somewhere. Not sure how he would fit in with Greaves there who LOOKS good enough albeit he doesn’t bowl nearly as well as Holder can.

Hope, Campbell, Greaves, Athanaze have all shown enough for me. Get the mental aspect under control and they’re good enough to do a job.

Imlach has only just come back so give him the NZ series. Chanderpaul has looked ok.
Da Silva and Kevlon Anderson I think could be worth a look and get rid of chase.

 

[sabso]

Roach too old or is he injured?

 

[PhatBoy]

Roach too old or is he injured?

He turned 37 in June this year. With his pace struggling to reach 130, as much as he’s been an incredible servant I just can’t see where he would fit in anymore. He would have been an asset against Australia in place of Anderson Phillip for that one test

Right at this minute, given my complete inability to accomodate Chase, if I could choose my ideal side it would be:

Campbell
Chanderpaul for one more series/Anderson
Athanaze
Hope
Greaves - think he has the technique for 5.
Imlach
Holder
Joseph
Joseph
Seales
Warrican

I would put Jewel Andrew in the touring party as the speculative kid to possibly come in based on talent alone, and I would have Joshua da Silva in the fringes as well, and maybe Chase or another spinner in the squad for when the pitch is an obviously turning one and you can drop one of the specialist quicks out. Not Holder though as he’s an excellent batsman against spin.

All that I’ve just said relies on Holder making himself available again, though.
It gives you a very balanced attack with a bit of everything. Seam, swing, spin, pace, control.

 

[PhatBoy]

Good article backing up a bit of what I was saying about out batting and also putting into perspective the nature of the last 7 tests we’ve played and the conditions they’ve been played in

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/ind-vs-wi-2nd-test-delhi-centuries-and-time-at-the-crease-ease-west-indies-crisis-1507086

 

[Plugger35]

Not surprisingly India winning pretty easily, only losing a couple more wickets, the Windies needed at least a hundred more runs.

 

[sherb]

Certainly an improved West indies effort from the first Test, the Indian first innings notwithstanding.

Getting 390 in the second innings, with a couple of hundreds, was a huge leap forward in itself.

 

[PhatBoy]

Certainly an improved West indies effort from the first Test, the Indian first innings notwithstanding.

Getting 390 in the second innings, with a couple of hundreds, was a huge leap forward in itself.

I’d have gleefully taken this performance in the first test.

They can talk about the pitch a lot and it is a fair point but the fact is that it’s been some exhorbitant amount of time - 15 years or something - since a visiting team has made over 350 batting in their second innings in India. Yes you absolutely have to take the fatigue factor into account as well but it’s Jadeja and Kuldeep so that’s a big big effort.

I don’t think the bowling was THAT bad, this test was always going to expose us I think given the pitch - Seales was on a bit of a hiding to nothing especially without at least one of the other world class quicks. Warrican bowled well, to me he is a good ‘second spinner’ at this level (by ‘this’ level I mean against India; he will always do well on spin friendly wickets against the other nations I think, and probably struggle away in SENA nations).

In that article I posted above it made mention of the fact that the West Indies batted at the two worst possible times in the first test and bowled when the pitch was at its flattest; it doesn’t excuse the sheer margin between the two sides of course which was massive but it doesn’t excuse go part way to explaining why we were shaky in both innings.

Now we have to reload again for another tough assignment in NZ but hopefully we have the Josephs back to give us some bowling ammo and a bit more batting confidence to boot

 

[PhatBoy]

The coaches of both teams did maybe the first thing as leaders of their respective sides that I’ve taken positive notice of in the wake of the second test and it happened in the same moment.

I’ve never had time for Gambhir much, as a cricketer or a bloke. I maybe liked that he enjoyed sticking it up the Aussies but he was a home track bully as a batsman and he has generally always lacked a bit of class.
I really like Darren Sammy as a person and a leader but he’s out of his depth as a test coach. I like that he’s trying to think out of the box but we need more than that.

But he approached Gambhir and asked him to speak to the West Indies in their dressing room at the close of the second test. He spoke with class and was very encouraging and gave them some words that they can hopefully take forward and while it was a little patronising in a way it would have been something they can hold onto.

 

[Nicho50]

He turned 37 in June this year. With his pace struggling to reach 130, as much as he’s been an incredible servant I just can’t see where he would fit in anymore. He would have been an asset against Australia in place of Anderson Phillip for that one test

Right at this minute, given my complete inability to accomodate Chase, if I could choose my ideal side it would be:

Campbell
Chanderpaul for one more series/Anderson
Athanaze
Hope
Greaves - think he has the technique for 5.
Imlach
Holder
Joseph
Joseph
Seales
Warrican

I would put Jewel Andrew in the touring party as the speculative kid to possibly come in based on talent alone, and I would have Joshua da Silva in the fringes as well, and maybe Chase or another spinner in the squad for when the pitch is an obviously turning one and you can drop one of the specialist quicks out. Not Holder though as he’s an excellent batsman against spin.

All that I’ve just said relies on Holder making himself available again, though.
It gives you a very balanced attack with a bit of everything. Seam, swing, spin, pace, control.

Give the captaincy to Hope.

 

[PhatBoy]

Give the captaincy to Hope.

I probably would. It hasn’t hurt his ODI batting. Keep the gloves away from him in tests though.

 

[PhatBoy]

I had the misfortune of watching the first odi on YouTube and tuned in when the WI were 0-30 off 4 overs chasing 207 or something and King and Athanaze got to 0-50 confortably enough but started to slow down and looking at the pitch which was no joke almost black I had an ominous feeling and sure enough we were bowled out about 70 short. True enough we were fairly bad against the Bangladeshi spinners but their leggie whose name escapes me was made to look like Warne on the surface - it was a dungheap. Made me realise that in hindsight it really wasn’t our batting that let us down - it was the bowling.

Come game 2 at the same venue (Mirpur) and sure enough despite Jayden Seales taking 3-48 in game 1, we have literally not picked a seamer aside from Greaves the all rounder - and so far he hasn’t bowled (even Athanaze has had a trundle at third change)

It’s an important bi-lateral in the context of direct World Cup qualification and I have a feeling it’s going to cost us

 

[Cleavy]

50 overs of spin. first time ever in an ODI

 

[ioppolo]

Whatever game this is, it's apparently not important enough for the CA app.