“WI, on a hiding to nothing, must beat Bangladesh badly in these two Tests!”

Sep 07, 2014 Sports

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Says Colin E. H. Croft

I had heard this absurd comment somewhere: “If you win, you lose; if you lose, yes, you also still lose!”
That should not make any headway in real or artificial intelligence. Yet, when it comes to this present two-Test West Indies v Bangladesh series, it does. Whatever WI do, they will still be losers anyway!
However, what West Indies must not allow, whatever else happens over the next two weeks, regardless of the intelligence quotient, is to actually lose, again, on the field of play, to lower ranked Bangladesh than WI, as was so in 2009. That would practically, really, kill quite a lot of us this time!
Regardless of what teams WI select, from the remaining players after allowed subtractions for Champions League 2014, they simply must win. Interestingly, speculation is still openly rife as to whom were the two suggested players who chose not to appear in the white clothes with maroon caps of WI, choosing instead to play for their respective colored teams in Champions League 2014, with, luckily, no penalties attached.
Were those players Kieron Pollard, who will play for Mumbai Indians instead of the team he successfully led to win Caribbean Premier League – Barbados Tridents; Sunil Narine, who will play for Kolkata Knight Riders; or even Andre Russell, who will also play for KKR? No-one seems to know!
Or, could the two have been two Dwayne’s – Smith and Bravo – both appearing for Chennai Super Kings, even if Smith could have also played for Barbados Tridents? Maybe Bravo Sr. was a Test possibility too!
Even recently reported injured Samuel Badree will definitely be returning for CSK. One of the mysterious unavailable players could not be him, could it? Stranger still, Jason Holder was selected for both WI and Barbados Tridents too, putting a tough decision on the slender shoulders of the raw young man.
For his well-being, maybe even his mental ease, Holder should probably have chosen Champions League 2014, appearing for Barbados Tridents, as there was no penalty attached, per WICB’s pronouncement. Remember, this guy does not know what the future holds, with respect to injuries and such like!
Anyway, whatever teams WI put out in the two Tests, they must beat Bangladesh badly! So, the present official ICC statistics are quite easy enough to follow: WI, presently rated at 74 points, are ranked No. 8 of ten teams in Test cricket. Oh, how the mighty has fallen. Only Bangladesh, No. 10, 21 points; and Zimbabwe, 39 points, are below WI.
Incidentally, rated just above WI with 93 points are its recent Test conquerors, New Zealand, who were last in the Caribbean, and who won that series 2-1, after, inexplicably, WI changed its winning team from Test No. 2 at Queen’s Park Oval, to a losing one for that deciding 3rd Test at Kensington Oval.
Retribution has already struck, with most of that doomed selection committee now gone, but even if WI do beat Bangladesh 2-0, it will still lose, given that WI should be beating Bangladesh every time anyway.
But reality is a bitch, and Bangladesh did beat WI, 2-0, when they last toured in 2009, even if WI supporters would forever claim that the home team then was a WI No. 3 team! However, nowhere in the records and annals of Test cricket does it state that assumption. It simply says that Bangladesh did indeed beat the hell out of WI in 2009!
So, anyway, how do WI actually lose, even if they win now? Read on! If Bangladesh wins the series 1-0, a quite unlikely scenario, given their recent outings in the Caribbean in ODI’s, they will gain 13 rating points while WI will lose 8 points, a net gain for Bangladesh of 21!
If the Tigers win 2-0, they will gain 15 rating points, while WI will lose 10, a whopping net gain of 25. If Bangladesh and WI draw the series, Bangladesh will gain 7 points, WI lose 4, a useful gain of 11 points!
As West Indies are supposed to win this series, based on recent records and placements, even if WI were to win 2-0, they will not gain much, only one point, while Bangladesh would drop only two. In 2009, Bangladesh won Test No. 1 by 95 runs in St. Vincent, and Test No. 2 by four wickets in Grenada, courtesy of magnificent efforts from then acting Captain Shakib al Hasan, whose 159 runs, average 53.00; 13 wickets at 18.76 averages, and two catches, showed him to be the ultimate all-rounder.
Unfortunately, Shakib al Hassan is now banned by Bangladesh Cricket Board, and would probably only be available for next Asian Games; definitely for ICC World Cup 2015. He will surely be missed here!
For 2014, even with some players at this year’s Champions League, WI features the great experiences of Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the latter fresh from a recent 183 against the tourists.
Between these two batsmen, WI could boast over 18,000 Test runs from a combined 258 Tests. Even if only these two fire well, West Indies should batter Bangladesh into total submission! Enjoy!

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