Determined West Indies ease to consolation win

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India's already-depleted squad for the tour of the West Indies has suffered further setbacks: shoulder injuries to Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh's respiratory infection, and Sachin Tendulkar's wish to spend time with his family have ruled the four players out of the whole trip. This will be the first instance of Tendulkar missing an entire Test series since he sat out India's previous full tour of the Caribbean in 2006. Meanwhile, Cheteshwar Pujara lost the chance to cement his place in the Test side as a knee injury picked up in the IPL made him unavailable.

Expectedly, a number of uncapped players and those trying to make comebacks got their chance. Suresh Raina got a second chance at ODI captaincy in Gambhir's absence (MS Dhoni was rested for the limited-overs leg of the tour), and Manoj Tiwary and Shikhar Dhawan got a chance to add to their one ODI cap each. S Badrinath made a Test comeback, but the bigger news remained the uncapped players in the Test squad: Virat Kohli and Abhinav Mukund, who is almost certain to open with his Tamil Nadu team-mate M Vijay.

Mukund, a 21-year-old left-hand batsman, has impressive first-class numbers to back him: an average close to 60 over 40 matches and 13 centuries, including a triple-ton. Vijay has been an automatic choice as Test opener every time either Gambhir or Sehwag is unavailable. Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman provide the experience in the middle order, which leaves Kohli, Raina and Badrinath fighting for the two remaining slots.

Jaidev Unadkat and Umesh Yadav, who were picked inexplicably ahead of Abhimanyu Mithun for the South Africa tour, got the boot, making way for Munaf Patel and an extra spinner in Amit Mishra. Pragyan Ojha, who was part of India's Test squad to South Africa but missed all ODI cricket since, returned too. Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma and Harbhajan Singh, though, remained the likely first-choice attack.

Parthiv Patel replaced Wriddhiman Saha as Dhoni's wicketkeeping cover in the Test squad, not least because he can open the innings should Mukund struggle or should the team management not consider him ready to debut.

As expected, the selection meeting in Chennai, attended by the new coach Duncan Fletcher, was a long affair lasting more than two hours. Kris Srikkanth, the chairman of selectors, said that Fletcher's "intelligent inputs" were utilised completely in picking the "best" available team.

The timing of the Test selection is surprisingly early: the first Test begins on June 20, and the selectors could have waited longer to see if any of the injuries or illnesses could have neared healing. The long recovery period associated with the injuries to Sehwag and Gambhir would have been a factor. And because of the pneumonitis in his left lung, we will never know if Yuvraj would have been considered for a Test comeback, on the back of his World Cup heroics.

In all, India are without Tendulkar, Dhoni, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Zaheer, Gambhir and Ashish Nehra for the ODIs. They will also have to do without Tendulkar, Sehwag, Gambhir and Pujara for the Tests.

Test squad: MS Dhoni (capt), VVS Laxman (vc), M Vijay, Abhinav Mukund, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, S Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel.

Limited-overs squad: Suresh Raina (capt), R Ashwin, S Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh (vc), Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Amit Mishra, Munaf Patel, Parthiv Patel (wk), Yusuf Pathan, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Vinay Kumar, Manoj Tiwary, Shikhar Dhawan.

England 491 for 5 (Bell 98*, Morgan 14*) lead Sri Lanka 400 by 91 runs

This Test is unlikely to linger long in the memory but that won't bother Jonathan Trott who continued to satisfy his insatiable hunger for runs with a second international double hundred. Ian Bell, meanwhile, ended the day unbeaten on 98 after the pair added 160 for the fifth wicket to take England into a 91-run lead, from where they may be able to put pressure on Sri Lanka during the final day although the forecast is again poor.

Trott's 200 came from 398 balls and followed his previous double against Bangladesh, at Lord's, last year and although he didn't remain unbeaten his average still stands at 66.77. It wasn't such a good day for Kevin Pietersen as his problems against left-arm spin came back into view when he fell to Rangana Herath for 3. Instead it was down to the two Warwickshire team-mates to consolidate the record stand between Trott and Alastair Cook which had ended on 251. Sadly there was a sense of futility to England's boot-filling but if nothing else they have laid down a marker for the series.

The biggest issue in this match is the time lost and another dank day meant there was no action before lunch while the poor forecast for Monday doesn't bode well. Unless Sri Lanka collapse in their second innings there won't be a result so it is likely to become an exercise in taking psychological points ahead of Lord's on Friday. In that respect Sri Lanka will take heart from Pietersen's failure when he couldn't get his bat down on a ball that skidded through from Herath and got him in a tangle.

Initially, Billy Doctrove gave him not out because bat was very close to the pad and the ball, but the DRS showed a hotspot on the pad fractionally before Pietersen's bat came down. The third umpire, Rod Tucker, took a long time to assess the decision before relaying the information back to Doctrove and Pietersen - who had watched Cook and Trott bat for 77 overs - hauled himself slowly off the pitch.

Farveez Maharoof had made the first breakthrough when Cook, having added four to his overnight score, top edged a cut to Prasanna Jayawardene when the ball bounced a little more than expected. Although not much more than medium pace, Maharoof maintained a consistent line and found a hint of unpredictable bounce in a tight 12-over spell as he operated throughout the afternoon session.

Progress was slow for England, but Bell gave a lesson in how to play left-arm spin when he skipped down the pitch to loft a straight six off Herath who bowled a 21-over spell. Trott moved along at his own pace, content to pad or block away Herath's leg-stump line, and it wasn't until the 14th over of the day when he added to his boundary count with a straight drive.

Trott's tempo remained consistent throughout the innings and one of his best shots was the on-drive that took him to 178, the highest individual score for England against Sri Lanka, beating Graham Gooch's record of 174. However, he couldn't set himself a new career-best mark when he tried to give himself room against Tillakaratne Dilshan as England hustled a little more.

Bell's batting was the most enjoyable part of a dreary day. He twice gained boundaries off the inside edge that just evaded off stump and the keeper, but he was in prime touch with the silky timing that was a hallmark of his play in Australia. He was given a life on 19 when a well-hit cut was put down at gully by Kumar Sangakkara, however there was a sense of inevitability about the fifty that arrived from 88 balls.

At least there was an eight-over spell from Thisara Perera that made Bell work quite hard as Perera located a tricky length on a surface that offered some variable bounce. It was an indication that this could have been an interesting pitch if there'd been the full amount of play and offers something for the England bowlers to aim for. One delivery climbed to strike Bell on the bottom hand and Perera was also the bowler for one of the inside-edged boundaries.

During the latter part of the final session Bell started to bring some innovation to his batting after England moved into the lead. He reverse swept Herath and switched his stance to dispatch Dilshan through the covers as he approached three figures in the closing overs. Eoin Morgan did his best to feed him the strike, but with three balls remaining he couldn't find the three runs he needed for a 13th Test hundred. Getting a chance on the final morning depends on Andrew Strauss and the weather.

Monday, June 6, Port of Spain
Start time 0900 (1300 GMT)

It's their first ODI assignment as world champions, and India are fielding a second-string team. The IPL has won out over West Indies in terms of player priority, but will the hosts be able to make the Indians pay for their decision? When India and West Indies played for the first time after their meeting in the 1983 World Cup final, the Indians were taught a bitter lesson in a 5-0 thrashing by the still pre-eminent team in world cricket then. Replicating that is beyond the present West Indies outfit, but they promise a closely-fought series, boosted by the return of Dwayne Bravo.

If the only Twenty20 international was anything to go by, the West Indies batting was vulnerable against spin, a continuation of its problems against the slow bowlers from the Pakistan series. The spin-friendly pitch at the Queen's Park Oval made it worse for them, and their woes could recur if the surface plays the same.

There is much curiosity off the field, though. Chris Gayle made a glitzy appearance in the crowd for the Twenty20, and kept us guessing with his tweets, hinting that things vis-à-vis his return were shaping up for the better. He's not been picked for the first two ODIs, but there's no doubting the impact he'll have if differences with the board are settled, at least in the short term.

Second-string or not, India are still world champions, and Suresh Raina will be under pressure to ensure his team delivers a performance worthy of that title and prevent any damage to its pride after a heated build-up to the tour.

Form guide (most recent first)

West Indies: WWLLL
India: WWWWL

India 183 for 3 (Kohli 81, Parthiv 56) beat West Indies 240 for 9 (Sarwan 56, Samuels 53, Mishra 4-31) by seven wickets (D/L method)

Followers of modern West Indies cricket won't be surprised. It is painfully familiar. They put behind them yet another disappointment, make a good start, capitalise on it in the middle part, but stumble at the last mile. It last happened this past Saturday when they were all over India with the ball, but lost all discipline and control in the last five overs. Today with the bat, they got off to a solid start, ensured minimal damage to the spin threat of Amit Mishra, accumulated steadily in the first 40 overs to reach 192 for 3, and then lost four wickets for five runs, reaching only 240 in the end.

Led by a 120-run second-wicket stand between Virat Kohli and Parthiv Patel, India reached home without a bother, except the rain break at the end of the 22nd over, which left them a slightly stiffer revised target of 83 more off 90 balls. Kolhi and Parthiv came back, and for about five minutes kept taking undue risks. Kohli and Suresh Raina, though, unfurled a few big ones to finish the game off in a hurry. In scoring his 19th score of fifty or more, Kohli also became the third-fastest Indian to 2000 ODI runs.

West Indies had little to celebrate in the end, but it was not always like that. Not when Lendl Simmons, Kirk Edwards, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Marlon Samuels had given them a good start. Yet all they could look at was dispiriting. Two well-set batsmen were stumped to a part-time bowler. Another half-centurion got out to a full toss. Kieron Pollard joined Dwayne Bravo in the 42nd over, and immediately they took the Batting Powerplay. Immediately Pollard went back. Bravo was caught at long-off soon, and when the catch was completed he had not even left his crease, an image that summed up the sudden brain freeze. That they still managed to reach their highest score of the season that is seven-matches old, beating 221, speaks volumes of how ordinary the season has been.

If all this was enough to drive the coach and the captain up the wall, their strategy in the field too left a lot to be desired. Their two legspinners, who had kept them alive in the previous game with a combined effort of 20-1-76-3, were not used until the 17th over on a turning pitch. By then, though, the game had slipped out of their grip.

That legspin was the way to go on this pitch was amply demonstrated by Amit Mishra. His dangerous first spell of six overs might have yielded only one wicket, but he was only too happy to provide rope to the batsmen intent on suicide towards the end, finishing with another maiden and three more wickets.

Simmons and Sarwan had worked hard in denying Mishra in that first spell, following up on a partnership of 57 for the first wicket. Even then, with a newish ball Mishra was beating outside edges with balls pitched outside leg. The googly was a mystery for the majority of that spell.

Sarwan, replacing Darren Bravo at No. 3, made a slow start, but was offset by Simmons, who had begun to accelerate. Simmons reached his fifty in the 25th over before going on to demonstrate why he has seven of those and no century. Before charging at Yusuf, he posted his intents on Twitter, and was beaten by the short, big offbreak to be stumped down the leg side.

Samuels was more subtle and powerful in his attack. He played nice-looking shots in his 32-ball 36, working well with the slow but stable Sarwan, but then he went to hit Yusuf for a second six in the 36th over. Yusuf responded well, bowling even slower, tossing it even higher, and pushing it wider outside off. Stumped.

Until then Sarwan had been decent in knocking the odd single around, but a strike-rate in 60s would need some correcting towards the end. In the 41st over, though, he summed up what has been missing in his recent efforts. Four out of the first five balls he played with hard hands and straight to the fielder at point. Finally when a full toss arrived, he lofted it to deep midwicket. Thus began the collapse.

Captain Darren Sammy resurrected the situation somewhat with a 19-ball 22, but his choice to open the bowling didn't do his side any favours. India's batsmen liked the pace on the ball. Kohli, who played a rare loose shot in the previous match, was intent on making up for the blip. The first signs of intent came from Parthiv, who pulled Sammy for a six in the sixth over. Kohli followed up with two pulled boundaries off Ravi Rampaul.

There was little that the medium-pacers could do to trouble the batsmen, but Bishoo highlighted the hole in their strategy by producing an edge with the third ball he bowled. The sharp chance from Kohli was dropped by Sammy at slip. Kolhi was 38 at the time. By the time Kohli offered his next chance, India were nearly home and dry at 173 for 3 in 31 overs.

in short virat lead india to victory with help of P.Patel !! :albino:

Chris Gayle continues to miss out on West Indies selection and is not part of the 13-man squad for the third one-dayer against India. Gayle has been out of favour with the West Indies Cricket Board since his controversial radio interview and was not selected for the first two one-dayers. The board has reiterated that since it has not been able to meet Gayle yet, he has again not been considered for selection. The date for the proposed meeting is still to be finalised.

There are two changes to the squad that was selected for the first two ODIs. Dwayne Bravo's request to be given a break has been granted and Jamaica batsman Danza Hyatt - who played in the only Twenty20 against India - has been selected in his place. The board has also decided to rest fast bowler Ravi Rampaul for the Antigua leg of the series which comprises the third and the fourth ODIs. Kemar Roach has returned to the squad to replace Rampaul.

Adrian Barath, the opener, will spend a week working at the Sagicor High Performance Centre undergoing practice in order to be considered for selection for the Test series against India starting on June 20 in Jamaica. Barath has been undergoing rehabilitation after suffering a hamstring injury that caused him to miss the 2011 World Cup.

West Indies trail India 0-2 in the five-match series. The third ODI will be played at North Sound in Antigua on June 11.

West Indies squad: Darren Sammy (capt), Carlton Baugh (wk), Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, Kirk Edwards, Danza Hyatt, Anthony Martin, Kieron Pollard, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lendl Simmons

oh ok

Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth have been ruled out of the Test series against West Indies, further weakening an Indian squad already missing several first-choice players. Zaheer has a right ankle problem, Sreesanth has a right elbow problem and both are undergoing rehabilitation. Medium-pacers Abhimanyu Mithun and Praveen Kumar have been named as their replacements in the Test squad.

Shoulder injuries to Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir had forced the selectors to opt for a pair of inexperienced openers in M Vijay and the uncapped Abhinav Mukund. Sachin Tendulkar wanted to spend some time with his family and opted out of the tour as well.

While the batting was hit hard by these withdrawals, the bowling initially had a stronger look with Zaheer - who skipped the limited-overs leg of the tour - expected to lead a full-strength attack in the Caribbean. His and Sreesanth's absence will now add further fuel to the debate on the impact of a cramped IPL schedule on the Indian team.

Zaheer's long-standing struggle with various injuries have caused him to miss games regularly. A shoulder injury made him miss India's tour of Sri Lanka last year, and he was forced to sit out of Tests against New Zealand and South Africa due to groin and hamstring strains.

Sreesanth hasn't been far behind on the injured list, returning home last year from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka after damaging his thigh and knee.

It has taken the absence of the first-choice bowlers again for Mithun to make a return after impressing during his debut Test series in Sri Lanka last year. He was ignored for the South Africa tour that followed, with the selectors opting for Umesh Yadav and Jaidev Unadkat.

Praveen, who is currently playing the ODI series in West Indies, is a regular for India in the limited-overs format. He has played 50 one-dayers but is yet to play a Test.

The Test squad was expected to leave for the West Indies on Sunday, June 12, but the departure has now been delayed.

Can West Indies learn from India?



Big Picture

West Indies with Chris Gayle are competitive at times. West Indies without Gayle have seemed as flat as a flawed artist who lost whatever little inspiration he had. The familiar script has played out: there have been few partnerships of substance, the precious few have been broken at the wrong time, and the house has collapsed in a heap. The bowlers have not been getting enough breakthroughs, when they have managed to, they haven't been able to sustain any pressure. Like a closed loop, West Indies continue to stumble from one failure to another.

Men placed in seemingly hopeless situations have no choice but to cling on to hope, and that is what Darren Sammy has been doing. After every loss, he puts on a brave face and undertakes an honest search for positives. When the execution is flawed, he talks about intent being there. He wants Ramnaresh Sarwan to play the role of a finisher; Sarwan's strike-rate has remained stuck in the early 60s.

Not that West Indies haven't had their moments so far. Not often does one find them in a commanding position of 175 for 2 with 14 overs to go. Nor do they often have the opposition on the mat at four down with more than a 100 still needed. Such potential match-winning positions have been frittered away though, allowing an Indian side missing several regulars to be on the verge of their third ODI series win in four tours.

While most attention has been focussed on West Indies' woes, Suresh Raina's side has efficiently chugged to three victories. The difference between the two teams has been India's ability to shut the opposition out, something West Indies badly need to do. There were concerns before the tour began about how India would fare with their depleted squad, and so far, the bench has showed it has strength, albeit against a team ranked six places below them.

Form guide (most recent first)

West Indies: LLWWL
India: WWWWW

it seems the cricket board of west indies ar scared of the gayle storm....

Yea They are afraid he might make the Board pay for large number of balls that he might smack out of the planet ....

hehehehe

West indies board members are behaving more foolish by not taking gayle in to the side.gayle had crossed the words of WI board then wi board punished him by not taking him into the seires of t20 and first 2 odis now WINDIES are in more trouble of loosing the series y arent they taking gayle in i couldnt understand....? :?:

gud News for England and bad news for India.......!

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India 228 for 7 (Rohit 86*, Harbhajan 41) beat West Indies 225 for 8 (Russell 92*, Simmons 45, Mishra 3-28, Munaf 3-60) by three wickets

Rohit Sharma produced his best international innings since his big-stage arrival in Australia three years ago to help India chase down 226 from 92 for 6. Harbhajan Singh supported him with a seventh-wicket partnership full of sensible cricket and worth 88 runs. Rohit stayed unbeaten on 86 to outdo a similar effort from Andre Russell who blasted 92 off 64 to give West Indies a defendable target after they had been 96 for 7. With the result, India took an unassailable 3-0 lead. West Indies last won an ODI series against a Test-playing nation in April 2008.

Without doubt this was the best of India's tour so far. A day when West Indies showed remarkable fight after getting off to the worst start of the series. A day when Amit Mishra mesmerised them with old-fashioned legspin full of turn, drift, bounce, straighter ones and googlies. A day when two tails wagged to provide uncertainty and drama. A day when a young talent announced himself well and proper on the international stage. A day when a young talent who has fumbled with mediocrity played a comeback innings well and proper.

There were also collapses that didn't make for pretty viewing. At 65 for 1 West Indies lost six wickets for 31, India four for 32 from 60 for 2. There were similarities in the collapses. Both began with avoidable run-outs, West Indies' with Ramnaresh Sarwan's and India's with S Badrinath's. Both lost their bats as they tried to make their crease.

West Indies could claim the rest of their collapse was down to some special legspin bowling. During that period, Mishra took three wickets for one run. He set up Marlon Samuels with four legbreaks bowled with a scrambled seam. None of those turned big, and were defended well by Samuels. The change-up was the orthodox legbreak, which drifted, dipped, and then ripped past Samuels who had been lured out of the crease. Debutant Danza Hyatt was done in by a googly, and Lendl Simmons fell to another big legbreak that he was forced to play at.

Simmons fell short of what would have been a sixth fifty in the last seven innings. India, too, lost opener Parthiv Patel in the 40s again. The batsmen who followed played too many shots even with the asking rate under 4.5 an over, and lost their wickets. In between Virat Kohli got a bad lbw decision. Yusuf Pathan's dismissal seemed just as unfair; Simmons had no business back-pedalling from short midwicket - after having instinctively moved in to save the single - to complete an overhead catch well behind his body.

West Indies' comeback in the first half of the day was unexpected because of the way they have been squandering positions of strength. Here Russell and Carlton Baugh did the opposite. The two added 78 for the eighth wicket, but that alone would have been strictly consolation.

To make a fight out of it, West Indies would need something special. And special Russell was in the last three overs, scoring 42 off the last 14 balls he faced. The last two overs of the innings, bowled by Raina and Praveen Kumar, went for 37. Russell just kept clearing the front leg, kept hitting off the middle of the bat, and the ball kept clearing the ground. Russell walked back to an applause from his team-mates who had found a new belief.

While Russell's innings could be seen as one played from a position where he and West Indies didn't have much to lose, Rohit is one man who has it all to lose on this trip. Today he only gained. He tends to be a touch edgy at the start of all his innings, but today his start was the most fluent part of his innings. Coming in at 60 for 3, he went after Darren Sammy who had earlier been on a hat-trick, lofting him for a beautiful six and four off back-to-back deliveries.

Rohit was in a mood to boss the game, but when he saw wickets fall at the other end he went into accumulation mode. Harbhajan proved to be an ideal partner. With the asking-rate still within reach, neither man tried to hit boundaries. There were two boundary-less spells of 10 overs each in the middle of the innings. The first one was during the collapse, and was broken only when Rohit got a low full toss on the pads, moving to 38 in the 28th over.

Ten overs later, he played another beautiful punch, caressing the ball past point for four. The next three overs featured a couple of half chances, a couple of uppish shots that didn't make it to the deep fielder. That's when the game broke towards India. Harbhajan went with the flow and hit a four and a six in the 41st over. Russell, though, hadn't had his last say. Off the last ball of the over, he got Harbhajan with a slower ball.

In a deliberate ploy, Rohit then took the back seat, asking Praveen Kumar to go for the big hits in the batting Powerplay. Praveen's twirls paid off, and Rohit stayed solid at the other end. After hitting the match-winning runs, Rohit pulled out one of the stumps. It could signify a turning point in a career that many believe should have taken off long ago.

West Indies 249 for 8 (Pollard 70, Simmons 67, Baugh 39, Praveen 3-37) beat India 146 (Martin 4-36, Russell 3-16) by 103 runs



Finally West Indies managed to put together the kind of cluster of performances that they have been missing, and hence losing matches - often from positions from where they can win. Today, though, they didn't relent despite a poor start, and registered a welcome win albeit after the series has been lost. Lendl Simmons got his sixth fifty in his last eight innings, Kieron Pollard registered his personal best against a Test-playing nation, Carlton Baugh again played the support role before taking the lead role behind the stumps, Andre Russell smacked 25 off 14 before unsettling India with his bouncers, and Darren Sammy and Anthony Martin played the bowling support role expertly, scalping six under-pressure batsmen between them.

It was never going to be an easy win. Not with Praveen Kumar and Amit Mishra in the kind of form they have been. The two bowled six maiden overs and took five wickets between them to undo Simmons' good work. Simmons brought them back from 41 for 2 through a counterattack on the returning Ishant Sharma and on the dominant Mishra. However, he saw his partner in recovery, Darren Bravo, pick out one of three fielders on the leg-side boundary to send West Indies into a tailspin that stopped with Simmons' run-out to make it 103 for in the 27th over.

This was Simmons' ninth innings out of 27 that ended between 40 and 77, a trend that flatters and then deceives. However, another flatterer and deceiver forgot the deceiving part today. Pollard played one of his more responsible international innings to pull West Indies out of trouble.

After an edgy start, Pollard showed much better discretion and cricketing sense. Hitting Tiwary for a straight six and a four in the 32nd over, he reached 19 off 19, and started working the singles. Baugh reciprocated just like he had done with Russell two days ago. There was a moment when Baugh should have been run out for 17, running casually with his bat in the air, but the umpire chose not to look at the replays. That was not the first mistake Norman Malcolm made, nor was it the last. His lbw call against Marlon Samuels was dodgy, as were a couple of wides, and he would go on to deny India another run-out in the last over of the innings.

Pollard meanwhile was making all the right decisions. The big shots and the singles were mixed well. There was also a deft late-cut, and the big hits were aimed only down the ground. Nor was there was no urge to hit every delivery into the stands. He went after Mishra only when he bowled flat. He contributed 64 to the 96-run stand. Having put India under spressure, he holed out in the first over of the batting Powerplay that begun in the 44th over.

That didn't stall the momentum, though, as Russell continued with his clean big striking, hitting three fours and a six to help West Indies get 57 in the Powerplay. Having registered their best score of the season, West Indies were aggressive in defence. The pitch wasn't as slow as the ones in the earlier matches, and Kemar Roach and Russell didn't bother about keeping some in the tank. They went all out against the inexperienced top order, and Sammy was canny from the other end.

India's slide began with Manoj Tiwary, who was jetlagged on debut when his stumps were clattered by Brett Lee and was now playing his second match as an opener, a role he is not accustomed to. It showed as he struggled against the moving ball. Nerves were on display too. He almost ran himself out and was dropped off Roach before finally edging Sammy. Parthiv pulled, flicked and upper-cut well in scoring 26 of the 41 runs that came while he was at the crease. Sammy, though, got rid of him with a smart one-handed return catch to his left.

S Badrinath was then pinged by Russell's bouncers. There was an air of helplessness about the way he moved about the crease, trying to get out of the way, looking for the upper-cut. The struggle finally ended when he gloved a hook and was quick in rushing off the field.

Martin, who is a firefighter in Antigua, then came on to give his full-time job a bad name. Here were India facing the heat, and the fireman stoked the fire by scalping India's best batsman, Virat Kohli, in his first over and the innings' 21st. Baugh, who had taken an overhead catch behind his body to send Badrinath back, now finished a flashy stumping as Kohli overbalanced for a split-second. Under pressure, Suresh Raina looked for release, but slogged Martin straight to midwicket to make it 111 for 5.

Yusuf Pathan soon did something similar to Lendl Simmons, but there was still one man West Indies needed to see the back of. Rohit Sharma had denied them on two previous occasions in this series, but this time he top-edged a slog-sweep off Martin after having looked good for 39 off 47. Game over.

Chris Gayle looks down in dismay during West Indies' loss, West Indies v Pakistan, 1st quarter-final, World Cup 2011, March 23, 2011
Chris Gayle has not reached agreement with the West Indies board © Associated Press
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Players/Officials: Chris Gayle
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Chris Gayle is highly unlikely to play in the Test series against India and is in danger of not playing for West Indies again. A meeting on Wednesday night between the WICB and Gayle's camp was disastrous and filled with tension, according to those present at the meeting. There there were conflicting reports from both sides over what had happened in the meeting.

A board source told ESPNcricinfo that there was a possibility that Gayle's career could now go down the same road as Andrew Symonds' has. Symonds plies his trade as a freelance player in Twenty 20 domestic events across the world and does not play for Australia. Gayle's camp said this prediction was an indication that the Board wanted to end the international career of the former West Indies captain. The WICB, they said, was in no mood to arrive at a compromise, refusing to negotiate unless Gayle retracted statements he made in a radio interview in April.

In the three-hour meeting, tempers had flared, with a WICB source alleging that Dinanath Ramnarine, the president of the West Indies Players Association, lifted his chair and threatened to assault the board CEO Ernest Hilaire. The camp representing Gayle denies the allegation but conceded that there were verbal disagreements and that Ramnarine had got out from his chair at one point, though it was denied that he had lifted the chair or tried to hit Hilaire.

Gayle was joined at the meeting by Ramnarine and the WIPA vice-president Wavell Hinds, while the WICB was represented by Hilaire, the coach Ottis Gibson, the team manager Richie Richardson and the director of cricket Tony Howard. A WIPA source said the meeting ended with Hilaire saying he would have to speak with the WICB management and the selectors before any more action was taken. No further meeting between the two parties was scheduled.

The allegations from both camps flew thick and fast. The WICB wants Gayle to retract the statements he made on radio earlier this year, during an interview in which he alleged the board had mismanaged his injury, that the coach Ottis Gibson had damaged Ramnaresh Sarwan's confidence, and the board mishandled his contract talks in October 2010.

The player's camp said they were willing to negotiate but the WICB had been adamant and wanted to end Gayle's career to set a precedent. "They just want him to beg and apologise," the WIPA source said. "We were willing to bury the past and move on but they weren't willing. We asked two things. One: why didn't they pick up Gayle? Two: what's the next step from here and what's the time-frame? The board didn't give any time-frame. The thing is just hanging now."

The WICB says that Gayle wanted to brush his allegations made during the radio interview under the carpet and that WIPA was now demanding that he be selected. "They didn't want to retract the statements made which is not acceptable to us," the board source said. "Their claim is that Gayle was upset when he said that and it was just a statement made in that context. The board doesn't agree. You can't make unsubstantiated statements against the board, the coach, and the other issues and just say that you were upset. Gayle has to retract his statements."

If Gayle retracts his statements, the board would likely view the incident as a minor indiscretion, penalise him accordingly, and select him. The WIPA claims the board doesn't want to see a resolution over the issue and wants to bury both Gayle's career and the players association along with it.

"We went in thinking that the issue will be resolved but to our horror they weren't just in the mood," the source from Gayle's camp said. "They made lots of false allegations. The real issue is the selection of Gayle. Clearly, they don't want to. It's a big ego issue for them and they are dragging West Indies cricket down with them."

The issue dates back to October 2010, when Gayle refused to sign a contract with the board. The WICB claims that Gayle wanted the board to buy him out of his IPL contract. "It was before the IPL auction time," the board source said. "Gayle said he went for $800,000 in the last year and wanted the same amount."

Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo, who initially adopted the same position as Gayle, later reached agreement with the board. They would accept match fees for playing in games for West Indies and were allowed to play in the IPL.

It is understood that later, when Gayle approached the board for a no-objection certificate to play in the IPL, the board agreed because they didn't want to be dragged to the court on "restraint of trade" clause.

As things stand, a resolution between the board and the player now seems extremely unlikely. There is a possibility that let alone being selected for the Test series against India, Gayle could not be selected for West Indies again.

WICB has gone nuts !!!!! :face:

Guyz The ODI Series has been finsihed, and India won 2-3, what are ur comments on this series, Both Young sides and how they fought.