AHMEDABAD, India — Indian cricket icon Sunil Gavaskar has delivered a blistering assessment of the West Indies’ latest Test humiliation, lamenting that the once-feared Caribbean pace battery now resembles a group of “net bowlers” after their innings-and-140-run defeat to India in the opening Test.
The contest, so one-sided it barely rippled the cricketing world, stood in stark contrast to the bygone era when a victory over the West Indies would have been headline news across continents. The team that once embodied swagger, speed, and dominance now appeared a pale shadow of its illustrious past.
“Is this really the West Indies pace attack?”
Writing in his Sportstar column, Gavaskar spared little in his critique of the visitors’ bowling, singling out only Jayden Seales for praise.
“In Ahmedabad, apart from Jayden Seales, the other two were simply trundlers,” Gavaskar observed. “No disrespect intended to them, but to see the first bouncer being bowled after half a dozen overs had been bowled made one ask, ‘Is this really the West Indies pace attack?’”
He lamented the absence of intimidation and tactical sharpness — traits that once defined Caribbean fast bowling. Gavaskar emphasized that while the short ball demands considerable effort, it remains an essential “surprise weapon” capable of unsettling even the most accomplished batters.
“It’s not just about raw pace,” he implied, “but about the intent to challenge — to make the batsman think twice.”
A shadow of the past
The gulf in class between the two sides was glaring, particularly with the bat. India’s line-up — led by KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel, and Ravindra Jadeja, each registering centuries — piled on a mountain of runs with clinical authority. In response, the West Indies’ effort was timid and fragmented, with only Alick Athanaze (38) and Justin Greaves (32) showing brief signs of resistance.
Gavaskar described the display as dispiriting for fans who remember the Caribbean’s golden era, when batting icons such as Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd, Gordon Greenidge, and Brian Lara struck fear into bowlers worldwide.
“For a team that once boasted of the likes of Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd, Gordon Greenidge, and Brian Lara,” he wrote, “there is simply nobody in this current team who looks like getting a million country miles close to them.”
From titans to turbulence
The decline, Gavaskar noted, has been both steep and sustained. During his own playing career between 1971 and 1987, India managed just five victories in 31 Tests against the West Indies — a testament to the Caribbean side’s dominance at the time.
Now, the pendulum has swung dramatically. The West Indies have not won a single Test against India since 2002, a stretch spanning 25 matches, of which India have triumphed in 15.
For Gavaskar, the latest defeat was not just another loss but a sobering symbol of how far the once-mighty have fallen.
Echoes of lost fire
In his closing reflections, Gavaskar’s tone was one of wistful disbelief. The former Indian captain, who once faced the likes of Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Joel Garner, and Malcolm Marshall, seemed to mourn not just a team’s decline but the erosion of a legacy.
Once synonymous with power and pride, West Indies cricket — once a byword for ferocity and flair — now struggles for relevance in the very format it once ruled.
