For the one last time on their tour of the West Indies, India will play in a Test match that begins from July 6 at Dominica. This is the third Test match of the series which India leads 1-0 and a draw is all they need to seal their second successive Test series win in the Caribbean. However, with the kind of aggression that MS Dhoni had shown in the previous game, it will be surprising if the Indians attempt to play safe.
While the Dominica pitch, where the game will be played, is expected to be quick, there is a long-standing issue that may prevent the West Indians from going all out for a win. For one, the presence of Darren Sammy prevents them from getting in Kemar Roach, Ravi Rampaul and Fidel Edwards together in the playing eleven. That is unfortunate because the only way that the captain can retain his place in the side is through his bowling and he has been average.
With not too much pace to worry, the Indians have been able to get away despite losing the early wickets.
The other issue for the West Indies is the manner in which they have batted in the series. The wickets have been lost far too regularly and apart from a few sporadic knocks here or there, not too many have contributed. This has led to the axing of Ramnaresh Sarwan but whether Kirk Edwards or Kieran Powell will be able to do any better is a bit of a question-mark.
India, despite the lead, have their own issues and they surround the batting. Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and to an extent, Suresh Raina apart, none of the others have been able to get going. Murali Vijay, Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni have been the worst-affected while Abhinav Mukund looked like he was finally getting off in the previous innings. There is a good probability that the Indians may look to change things around by getting in either S Badrinath or Parthiv Patel.
Speaking of Dravid, he has a century and a half-century to his name in this series but has said in an interview that the pitches have been really difficult to bat on. He said, βItβs not been easy for young batsmen to come in and face the new ball on these tracks. I have played four tours here and this has been some of the toughest tracks I have faced.β
Both the batting line-ups have clearly got some work to do in this third Test match.