Windies have task cut out against India, says former captain Sourav Ganguly

They haven’t beaten India in a Test series since 2002. The last time they beat India in a Test in their own den was way back in 1994. The last time they won a Test series in the country was in 1983-84. So, for the Windies, it’s all about the past when playing the world’s No.1 Test side and according to former India captain Sourav Ganguly, the maroon caps have a mountain to climb if they aspire to stand up against them in the two-Test series that started in Rajkot on October 4.

The Windies have lost six consecutive series in whites against India since 2002 when they last won and of these, three have come at home. In 2016, Virat Kohli’s magnificent batting form saw the Asians clinching a four-Test rubber 2-0. The Caribbeans are currently ranked eighth in longest format in ICC rankings and are a good 38 points behind toppers India. They will do good even by avoiding a 0-2 loss in the series, which was the scoreline when they last played in India in 2013.

“It’s back to Test match cricket for India on Thursday, this time at home, against the West Indies which is definitely a shadow of the team it used to be. This is a West Indies going through a rebuilding process, and it takes a lot to get back to where you were. For this side, it will indeed be a mountain to climb; Jason Holder and his boys will surely have to play out of their skin to stand up to Virat Kohli’s team,” Ganguly wrote in his column for The Times of India.

Windies lost captain Jason Holder for the first Test

The Windies suffered a blow in the first Test as their regular captain Jason Holder had to step aside with an ankle injury and opener Kraigg Brathwaite took over. After Kemar Roach’s exit because of personal reasons, Holder’s absence will weaken the visitors’ bowling even more.

“The West Indies have been playing good cricket in their backyard over the past few months and their showing has been appreciable. But in India, the dynamics of the game change. Their fast bowlers will need to toil more to get wickets here, their batsmen will have to show more grit and determination while facing the Indian spinners and, importantly, they will need to be mentally tough to stand up to situations,” the former captain, who incidentally is the last Indian captain to lose a Test series against the Windies in 2002, wrote.

India are playing as many as three spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav and it will be a big challenge for the visiting batsmen to negotiate them on a spin-friendly wicket in Rajkot.

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