Today marks the start of another gruelling Test series for coach King Sammy and his West Indies squad. He claims he’ll be "drilling a mindset to win" into his team ten days before the series begins.
My initial thought? If they need ten days of high-pressure drilling to acquire a winning mindset, perhaps they’ve already lost the battle before the plane has even landed in India. Shouldn't that be the default mental luggage for every international cricketer?
The low ranking of the West Indies—currently languishing at number eight—means the team is relegated to either a two or three-match series, which is either a mercy or an insult, depending on your tolerance level for pain. Having played a three Test series against Australia and the recent trauma of what happened in the final Test (insert 27 tears), the West Indies only has to play two Tests against a formidable, highly motivated Indian team fresh off levelling that magnificent series against England.
At home, the Indians are less a team and more of an unstoppable force. The first hurdle for Roston Chase’s side isn't the bowlers; it's overcoming the sheer expectation of an Indian thrashing. The question of pitch preparation, however, is almost moot, as their bowling attack can thrive on anything from a savannah pitch to a perfectly manicured runway.
Their pace battery is led by the relentless, indomitable, number one-ranked Jasprit Bumrah.
Then, you would have to go down to number 15 before you find the name of Mohammed Siraj, who seems to bowl with his heart on his sleeve and has a permanent look of controlled rage. And even though Prasidh Krishna lacks an official world bowling ranking, his wicket-taking prowess is undeniable, cemented by those crucial wickets he picked up against the English and his Purple Cap-winning performance in the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) for topping the wicket-taking charts. Those three alone are enough to cause the West Indies batting lineup problem after problem after problem.
Should the wicket spin, India simply turns with the wicket. They have the masterful left-arm wrist spin of Prasidh Krishna, the evergreen slow left-arm orthodox of vice-captain Ravindra Jadeja, and the off-spin of Washington Sundar. They will act as the magnificent six for the Indians, but there is also a lot of backup in Axar Patel and all-rounder Nitish Reddy.
On the other hand, their batting lineup is equally terrifying. Shubman Gill, the new captain, was magnificent against England and will no doubt want to continue his form. KL Rahul is the epitome of a textbook opener—a walking, talking advertisement for patience. He wears the bowlers down, takes the shine off the ball, and generally makes batting look incredibly easy, constantly finding a gap.
The West Indies bowlers will have to get his scalp early. I admire the other opener, Yashasvi Jaiswal; at 23, he is fearless and has all the shots in his repertoire. He is different from Rahul as he goes for his shots early and will give a chance or two, but he has an appetite for big runs. With the talented but inexperienced duo of Devdutt Padikkal and Sai Sudharsan waiting in the wings (thankfully for the West Indies, the injured Rishab Pant is absent), India is a wonderfully balanced team that bats deep enough to strike oil.
Where do we begin with the West Indies and their search for stability? Certainly not with the batting. Their strength, such as it is, lies in their bowling. The fast bowlers will be hoping that the pitches have some pace and bounce so they can come into their own. For me, the most improved and best fast bowler the West Indies have presently is ranked 12th in the world - Jayden Seales. Both Josephs - Shamar and Alzarri - are out injured, and those are major blows for the West Indies. This brings Anderson Phillip and the newcomer Johann Layne into the mix.
The ongoing issue remains the lack of a Test-quality wrist spinner. However, I’m delighted to see Khary Pierre included after a stellar first-class season. He'll be battling for a spot with Jomel Warrican, who, for reasons only King Sammy understands, has been named vice-captain. If the recent past is anything to go by, Warrican will most likely be dropped for the games, just as Joshua Da Silva was in Pakistan. If the pitch does turn, it will be interesting if the West Indies go into a Test match with Pierre, Warrican and Chase as their spinners. The selection of the final eleven will hold my attention because there is also the all-rounder Justin Greaves in the squad. Will he be used as a third seamer and thereby strengthen the batting, as this seems most likely? King Sammy and Chase will have a lot of thinking to do.
The final department is where the West Indies is most vulnerable, that is, in their batting.
With Kraigg Brathwaite gone, they now have three relatively green openers to choose from. There’s the veteran John Campbell (31 years old, 23 Tests, 994 runs, average 24.8); Tagenarine Chanderpaul (10 Tests, 506 runs, average 32.9); and Kevlon Anderson (1 Test, 3 runs—you do the math). That could be the West Indies' top three, but I’d prefer to see the immensely talented Alick Athanaze at number three, although he hasn't quite learned the cardinal rule of Test cricket: you have to know when to use the brilliant shots, and more importantly, when to hide them.
The core of the lineup—Roston Chase, Shai Hope, and the newly tested Brandon King—carries the weight of the Caribbean. We know the capabilities of Hope; he is, by far, the West Indies’ best batsman, and the team’s reliance on him is approaching dependency, which is not good for either party. Hopefully, he can bat in a relaxed frame of mind.
Chase is a veteran of 52 Tests with five hundreds, but only averages 25.8, so it appears he will need to have a transformation with his batting that would make a caterpillar jealous to have any impact on the series. King has only played the three Tests against Australia, scoring 75 in one innings but still averages only 21.5.
The only other batsman is Tevin Imlach, but I can’t see him getting a game as Hope should keep wicket. These statistics don't put fear into the Indian bowlers; in fact, they’re probably thinking, “Dinner is served early.”
All in all, it is a pity that India follows Australia as early opponents for the West Indies, but to be among the elite, you have to be ready to not only play them but defeat them. My crystal ball is completely fogged, but let's be frank: I don't see the West Indies getting anything from these two Tests. Their bowling is good enough to dismiss the Indians for under 200, but even that might be a mountain too high to climb. I suppose West Indian fans can not only pray for a kind result but also for a massive monsoon during a Test match, hoping the sheer power of prayer (and precipitation) can yield a draw.
Lastly, you didn't really expect me to comment on the Nepal series, did you? The only thing I will say is that the whole episode was an act of complete, unadulterated nonsense. To schedule a T20 series, even against Nepal, while King Sammy and his technical staff were attempting to drill a "winning mindset" for a Test tour of India, was nothing short of self-sabotage.
It was the ultimate 'no-win' scenario: as if they won, everyone would have said “look, West Indies running away from another ‘27’ and hiding behind Nepal”. They had so much more to lose. And boy did they lose so much more than a T20 Series; they lost their pride and their honour as a cricketing region.
It wasn’t just about losing, but also the manner of the gut-wrenching defeats; more specifically, the absolute hammering in the second game; being bowled out for 83 runs and losing the game by 90 runs. Anywhere else in the world, especially those countries that are serious about cricket, such abysmal performances of ‘27’ and ‘90’ would trigger immediate, widespread resignations. Are we serious about cricket, or has our beloved sport been relegated to an expensive hobby we occasionally indulge in?
Editor’s note: The views expressed in the preceding article are solely those of the authorand do not reflect the views of any organisation in which he is a stakeholder.
