Why defeating West Indies is important for Indian cricket’s future

Dubai: The Indian cricket team, of late, have been making headlines for the wrong reasons and has become a magnet for controversies. The performances on the field has also eroded fans’ faith in the Men in Blue.

It is not just one series loss that’s been magnified to gigantic proportions. In reality the slide started in the UAE in October when India failed to make the knockout stages of the Twenty20 World Cup for the first time in decades and culminated in South Africa, where the hosts outplayed India both in Tests and One-Day Internationals.

Sandwiched between the two events is the mud-slinging between Virat Kohli and Sourav Ganguly, the past and present stalwarts of the country, and Kohli losing his captaincy in the ODIs and relinquishing captaincy in Tests.

Indian cricket is now in turbulence as the current set-up – Rahul Dravid, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and the selection committee – have to prove that the South Africa setback is only a minor blip.

If not, then the role of Dravid will come under scrutiny and needlessly put the former India captain under pressure. Dravid has an impeccable track record as the coach of the India Under-19 team and as the NCA Director. Though the expectations are high, Dravid needs time to settle down. Unfortunately he took charge when India’s fortunes were going south.

Dravid is not to take insults and criticism lightly. He might walk away if he feels it is not worth the effort. It shouldn’t happen since he is too precious to for Indian cricket. Hence, it is important for India to clinch the series at home.

India, for a start, began their preparations on the wrong foot with four of their players - inform opener Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Navdeep Saini - having tested positive for COVID-19. With skipper Rohit Sharma returning from an injury break, the batting will depend a lot on Virat Kohli and Rahul, and the middle order is still weak and unsettled. There are several players in the Indian ranks who are returning to the main scheme of things like Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav, so they will be rusty.

The Indians must be wary of the high-flying West Indians, who have arrived on the back of a Twenty20 series victory against the World Cup semi-finalists England with Jason Holder in great form with the ball.

A good start in the one-dayers will erase the bad memories of South Africa and set the team back on the winning path. Over to Ahmedabad.