ROSEAU: West Indies skipper Darren Sammy claims his team has finally figured out a chink in their chief tormentor Rahul Dravid’s armour and the in-form senior Indian batsman would be out of equation early in the third and decisive Test.
“Dravid is very vulnerable to deliveries on his off-stump early in his innings. Moving deliveries on the off-stump can be an issue with (VVS) Laxman also. We would like to keep them to low scores–or at least make sure they don’t bat together for a long time,” stated Sammy.
Rahul Dravid is the leading scorer of the series with 212 to his name. Laxman is second only to him from either side with 184 runs to himself. Together, they have been the difference between the two sides.
West Indies, in contrast, haven’t had the same influence from their seniors. Ramnaresh Sarwan is already axed for strings of poor scores while veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul hasn’t made a meaty contribution yet.
“Shiv has been with us for long time. It happens rarely when Shiv hasn’t responded if the team is in crisis. We are hoping he will come good here,” remarked Sammy about the left-hander.
Indeed, West Indies batting has been their nemesis in this series. Neither the young batsmen, nor Sammy himself, have contributed substantially to the total.
“I have been working hard with Dessie (Desmond Haynes, batting coach). My strength has been to strike the ball down the ground,” claimed Sammy.
West Indies’ strength has been their new-ball fast bowling pair, Fidel Edwards and Ravi Rampaul. Both have picked up wickets at regular intervals in the series. (PTI)