India look to extend domination over Windies
21 Nov 2013 6:03 AM IST
The 2-0 whitewash against the Caribbean outfit was the perfect send off for the legendary Tendulkar, who called it quits after serving Indian cricket for nearly a quarter of a century.
The emotional curtain call left everyone, including the man of the moment, in tears even taking the focus away from the cricket that was played. The epic farewell is now behind them and the Indians would try and ensure that it is just cricket that is talked about now.
The home side already deserves credit for keeping itself focussed on the game in the Tests despite the frenzy surrounding Tendulkar’s retirement. Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men were clinical, to say the least, in the way they went about their business in the Test series, taking full advantage of the West Indians’ shabby show to wrap up two Tests in a matter of five days.
The Indians start firm favourites in the shorter format too with a batting line-up, which is in intimidatingly good form. Combining Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dahawn in the opening slots has proved to be a masterstroke so far with both scoring heavily in India’s last ODI assignment - the seven-match series against Australia. In the bowling department, Mohammed Shami would be the one to watch out for as he seeks to be India’s newest pace hope after the steady decline of senior pro Zaheer Khan, who has been denied a central contract by the BCCI this year.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma, an IPL find, and Jaydev Unadkat complete the pace quartet for India with R Ashwin and Amit Mishra manning the spin department.
For the West Indies, the challenge could not have been bigger after the Test mauling. Darren Sammy would make way for all-rounder Dwayne Bravo as captain of the side and the visitors would hope to restore some of the lost pride by coming good in the shorter format.
The emotional curtain call left everyone, including the man of the moment, in tears even taking the focus away from the cricket that was played. The epic farewell is now behind them and the Indians would try and ensure that it is just cricket that is talked about now.
The home side already deserves credit for keeping itself focussed on the game in the Tests despite the frenzy surrounding Tendulkar’s retirement. Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men were clinical, to say the least, in the way they went about their business in the Test series, taking full advantage of the West Indians’ shabby show to wrap up two Tests in a matter of five days.
The Indians start firm favourites in the shorter format too with a batting line-up, which is in intimidatingly good form. Combining Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dahawn in the opening slots has proved to be a masterstroke so far with both scoring heavily in India’s last ODI assignment - the seven-match series against Australia. In the bowling department, Mohammed Shami would be the one to watch out for as he seeks to be India’s newest pace hope after the steady decline of senior pro Zaheer Khan, who has been denied a central contract by the BCCI this year.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma, an IPL find, and Jaydev Unadkat complete the pace quartet for India with R Ashwin and Amit Mishra manning the spin department.
For the West Indies, the challenge could not have been bigger after the Test mauling. Darren Sammy would make way for all-rounder Dwayne Bravo as captain of the side and the visitors would hope to restore some of the lost pride by coming good in the shorter format.
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