Amidst Calypso drum and Jamaican Rum !!

Well !! Another cricket tour is all set to begin for the men in blue in the islands of West Indies with Calypso music and Jamican rum but this one has began with an injury (Ramesh Powar) even before ball 1 is hurled in. WI, who had fallen to absymal depths over the years is on a slow path of desperate redemption. With the world cup round the corner and with woes of inadequate infrastructure, gross negligence, cement shortage, stadiums half built, slow pitches, spectator neglect and more Calypso variety troubles like intra-insland rivalry, protesting players, low morale - all around, WI board somehow managed to appoint Lara as captain. That is a master stroke considering the amount of negativity which surrounds WI cricket but with Edwards and Taylor bowling decently, India might suddenly discover some resurgence from WI. India should have a walk in the park in theory but over the years, I know how Indian side is a terrible let down, when they tour abroad especially outside the sub-continent. They have had their moments like loosing to Zimbawe in a test and somehow picking unimpressive wins over Zimbabwe/Kenya in ODIs, loosing to B'desh in a ODI etc. I can also remember a team that had Sachin, Dravid, Ganguly and Lakshman failing to get 100+ in the 4th inning chase in a test in WI. Having seen all this, I won't be surprised if India manages to make things hot for themselves , even against such weakened outfits like WI.
I don't want to read too much in the practice match against Jamaican 2nd rung outfit or WI's sound thrashing of Zim but there are some hard realities, which can not be ignored. Sehwag is totally out of form and he will find life difficult against Edwards and Taylor. Kaif as well as Rao do not deserve a spot in the ODI side (Kaif because of his form and Rao because of his horrible, selfish, below par show in the ODI A series matches) in my opinion but I guess they will continue to be around and hamper India's progress when they bat first and will help in increasing the required run rate (and blood pressure of fans) during run chases. With Srisanth and Powar out, bowling looks terribly anemic and bowling in the death is going to be a mess against the likes of Lara, Sarwan, Chandrapual, who are waiting to feast on India and revive their shambolic run of the last few years. Chris Gayle is also a seasoned hand, when it comes to thrashing Indian attacks and he must be waiting to lay his hands on the dollies of Munafs and Agarkars. All in all I think, India will display another episode of letting their fanbase down but in the end might just about scrap through (weather permitting !!)