The Hindu : Time Gayle and Hinds came good

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 19, 2003

Sport

Sport - World Cup

Time Gayle and Hinds came good

By Our Special Correspondent

Benoni Feb. 18. The West Indies openers have been short on runs and confidence here unlike on the flat Indian pitches last winter. Chris Gayle and Wavell Hinds flopped again at the Willowmoore Park against Bangladesh.

This talented pair has so far made only 56 in this Cup. Both had scored heavily in India, Gayle being so prolific that he was adjudged the Player of TVS Cup. After a poor start at Jamshedpur, Gayle cut and carved the Indian seamers to make 103, 72, 140, 27 and five. He continued to bat in the same vein in Bangladesh where his scores were 38, 21 and 73.

Hinds was inconsistent, but not a failure. He made 93, 27, 10, 26, 80, one and 58 in the TVS Cup and followed it with 30, zero and 16 in Bangladesh. The West Indies selectors had no reason to disturb the opening pair. Someone like Vivian Richards might not still be impressed by Marlon Samuels' good showing in India. That could be the reason why Samuels has not found his way into the XI so far.

Carl Hooper had cautioned against complacency and said things would be different in South Africa during the World Cup. How true. The South African pitches have been batsman friendly, but they have not been partial to them. Bowlers have extracted bounce and demonstrated their skill in moving the ball off the seam. Even at The Wanderers where three super centuries have already been scored--by Australia's Andre Symonds, South Africa's Herschelle Gibbs and New Zealand's Stephen Fleming--bowlers did not perform their trade without help.

This is Gayle and Hinds' first tour of South Africa with the senior team. They have been here before but as part of junior teams and are finding the pitches not exactly to their liking. They were all at sea against Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini at Newlands and also against New Zealand bowlers. Even against Bangladesh things were no different.

Serious contenders for the title have always put their faith on specialist openers and prepared them for the event. Clive Lloyd depended on the diminutive Roy Fredricks and Gordon Greenidge in 1975. They did not plunder runs and provide a strong base, something that Greenidge and Desmond Haynes did in 1979. Their opening partnerships contributed to the West Indies' success. It was the same in 1983. The West Indies had great players apart from Greenidge and Haynes--Lloyd, Richards, Collis King, and Alvin Kallicharan.

But after that glorious phase the West Indies have depended on the individual brilliance of Brian Lara. It is time Gayle and Hinds came good. Only that will lessen the burden on Lara, Hooper, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnaraine Chanderpaul.

So far Gayle has played 64 odd matches, scored 2175 and averages 35. 66, while Hinds has played 66, scored 1572 and averages 26.64. To make the West Indies a real force, these two have to up their form and average.

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