Consistency v Inconsistency

*Image: Courtesy Star Sports

India is one of the two unbeaten teams in the world cup so far. India has played three matches till date with first two matches against tough opponents in Pakistan and South Africa. The third was against UAE. Will it be able to make it four out of four like New Zealand did or will it stumble at West Indies is what will be the point of interest in the match. West Indies have won two of its four games. It posted three 300+ scores in its first three matches and then was bundled out by South Africa for half of that. If India has shown tremendous consistency so far, then West Indies has been very inconsistent.

Ideal situation for West Indies would be to win both of its remaining matches and seal a spot in the quarter finals, but losing Friday's game should not impact them in a big way unless they lose it like they did against South Africa. So, this game is actually a no pressure game for them. If they take the field without thinking about the result, they could have the result their way. West Indies has played all its games on different venues, but if one venue that was going to support their seam bowlers is this venue. Their bowlers will enjoy bowling at the WACA which offers good bounce. It will be an open question, if they replace Suleiman Benn with an additional seamer as they have spin option in Gayle and Samuels if at all they need spin.

India is sitting pretty at the top of the table with three games still remaining. A loss is not going to hurt them in terms of qualification to the knockout but will definitely hurt their reputation. Clean slate is an addiction and India would try to keep it that way. Hence, India could be under pressure. They played against UAE at the same venue, but their bowlers did not have the pace to use this pitch. West Indies team will be a totally different attack compared to UAE. They have the necessary pace to exploit the conditions. Even the spinner Suleiman Benn would get the bounce from this wicket which could trouble the Indian batsmen.

South Africa had ripped apart West Indian bowling in their previous match. Will India be able to repeat the same? Well, not really, at least not on this pitch. The pace and bounce could trouble India if West Indies could bowl in the right areas. To be honest, Indian batting has not been really tested. The real test could be on Friday, but it also depends on which West Indies team takes the field. So far, India and West Indies, both of them have posted big totals batting first. West Indies, crumbled chasing a big target and the only time India had to chase a target was a score that it could have even chased in a truncated T20 game. So, India has not been tested in chase and West Indies has failed in chase. So, it will be interesting to see how they react, as one them will have to chase for sure.

Indian bowlers did bowl against UAE on the same ground. But it will be difficult to judge how they fared, as the batting was not of the highest standards. Whatever be the form of West Indies batsmen, they still have big names in Gayle, Smith, Samuels, Simmons. Ramdin has been their consistent batsmen in the recent past. From Indian point of view, Ashwin did get the benefit of bounce, which UAE batsmen could not cope up. West Indies batsmen could also face the same problem, although they are much better than the UAE counterparts. For West Indies, Dwayne Smith's form is definitely a problem. Will they play him tomorrow or not is a question mark. With the form that Indian pacers are in, they could fancy doing well on this pitch. The biggest factor that will determine the course of the match will be West Indies' batting. West Indies has only stroke makers, however we saw the other side of both Gayle and Samuels against Zimbabwe. If West Indies batting could repeat that, they could challenge India. But then, had West Indies been consistent, then it would have been a force to reckon with already.

For India, all the top order batsmen are among runs and must be feeling good. If they stick to their approach of keeping wicket initially and launching at the end, they would find themselves in a good position. Having said that they faltered against both Pakistan and South Africa in the last 5 overs. So this is something that they will have to be mindful of.

As far as fielding is concerned, India definitely has an edge over West Indies. It is not that West Indies team is a bad fielding unit but again, they lack consistency. India has dropped only one catch so far in the tournament from 22 catches that came their way. And their ground fielding has also maintained the standards. Whereas West Indies team has been sloppy on the field for most part of the tournament.

As far as India is concerned, whenever they have taken the field, it looked as if they have some plan and are executing it well. On the other hand, West Indies hardly looked like following any plan. If this continues, then India will certainly be the favourite, else it will be a close contest.