By Sunil Gavaskar
India began their tour of the West Indies with a winning performance which also showed that Suresh Raina’s team may not have the big names with it but has lots of determination and confidence.
A T20 game is hardly an indicator of a teams strengths and weaknesses but it was just the way the youngsters approached it that was good to see.
Admittedly the West Indies team is not the force they were about a decade or so back, but in recent times they have shown that they are on the road to recovery though it does appear that it will be a road with plenty of turns and twists.
They have the players but they are short of self-belief and the attitude that makes a team think that they can cope with any situation however tough it maybe.
The Indian team is in that winning space where they feel that even if they don’t have enough runs on the board they have the bowlers who will do the job for them.
Great teams are those where players do double the work expected of them. Great teams are those where one department makes up for the shortcomings of the other department.
It is here that this young side will come through for what they lack in experience they will make up in enthusiasm.
The other exciting aspect of this team is that there will be serious competition between its players for being the best fielder in the team. The skipper Suresh Raina is an outstanding fielder who will lead by example on the field and there will be others like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan who will be trying to match or be better than the skipper and that means the bowlers will be a happy lot as there will be an added edge to their bowling.
The one-day series will give players like Dhawan, Parthiv Patel, Rohit Sharma and Badrinath the chance to show that their talent is not restricted to the odd game.
Badrinath has already begun well in the T20 which again shows that there is no substitute for doing the hard grind in domestic cricket.
It prepares you for the sterner tests ahead and it is only after a player has done well consistently in the domestic circuit that he himself feels confident about taking his game to the higher international level.
Badrinath is a role model for all those who toil in the first class game for it shows that if you persevere like ‘Badri’ has then the international call will come.
The West Indies will be without Chris Gayle and that can only help India.
However they must not get complacent for therein lies the danger of being taken by surprise.
This Indian team looks hungry for success and that is a happy sign indeed.