India Won't be Scared of West Indies as Sunil Narine Mystery Looms

Having faced the invincible West Indians of the Eighties, it is no surprise that Sunil Gavaskar finds the current crop of Caribbeans a timid bunch. Last year, the BCCI invited the West Indies only to rout them in a bilateral series, better remembered for Sachin Tendulkar's Test retirement.  The emotions during the legend's swansong was so overwhelming that the one-sidedness of the entire series paled into insignificance. (India aim to reach pinnacle of ODI rankings)

Exactly a year later, after getting routed in a Test series in England, India will play the Caribbeans to probably blow their sorrows away and bag some crucial ICC rating points ahead of the gruelling tour of Australia later this year. Starting Wednesday, West Indies will play five ODIs, a T20 international and three Tests and Gavaskar feels the results are a foregone conclusion. The 'mysterious' absence of Sunil Narine has given India an extra edge.

In 2013, West Indies lost the Test matches inside three days. Their ability to play the longer format of the game looks terribly suspect as most West Indian cricketers love to play either 20-over cricket or at best, the 50-over format. In modern times, West Indies don't have men to spend time at the middle and build their innings. In the Eighties, if West Indies had the swashbuckling Vivian Richards, they also had the resolute Clive Lloyd or Desmond Haynes. Reliability, consistency and caliber to handle conditions have been missing from the current West Indian sides. (MS Dhoni & Co. begin World Cup preparations)

In his newspaper column, Gavaskar writes: "There used to be a time when a tour by the West Indies team used to be looked forward with great anticipation by cricket fans and some apprehension by the Indian cricketers...Sadly, it's a different story now as the West Indies are not quite the team they used to be. Their cricketing standards have slipped somewhat and they are not quite the fearsome unit they used to be."

The ODI series should see some competition. The West Indians lost both their 50-over warm-up games against India A. But the return of IPL stars Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith and Andre Russell will add muscle to a team quite adept in playing limited overs cricket. India have not lost the last three ODI series they have played against the West Indies at home. Last year, India won 2-1 while in 2011-12, India prevailed 4-1.

West Indies will miss two key players - Chris Gayle and Sunil Narine. Thanks to the IPL, both players knew Indian conditions inside out and Gavaskar feels Gayle's big-hitting will be missed. While West Indies may have the men to hit the ball hard and long, Narine's guile with the finger is something skipper Bravo will miss. Narine was taken off the tour after being called for chucking during the Champions League Twenty20. Narine missed the final that Kolkata Knight Riders lost by eight wickets against Chennai Super Kings.

The decision to question Narine's action angered West Indian chief selector Lloyd, who like Gavaskar has seen the steady decline of the West Indian team over the years. Lloyd said: "He (Narine) has been bowling over the years with the same sort of action. Now all of a sudden it has changed. What has changed, I don't know."

Effectively, the greatest threat from the West Indian side has been neutralized and Lloyd is extremely unhappy. "You can't just ban him from bowling just before an important tour like this and with the World Cup coming up. It destroys the individual's ability as such and I think you may end up destroying someone's career," Lloyd told ESPNCricinfo.

Is India hell bent on winning and improving their home record? Lloyd smells a fish. "It (Narine's ouster) can destroy a team. You want to know if this is being orchestrated because if you lose your main bowler then it puts some pressure on the selectors and the team and so on."

In a startling revelation, Lloyd says: "Before we came here we were told that they were going to call Narine, so it's quite obvious that something must have been said somewhere," he said. "I really can't tell you that (who it was) but I can tell you it's a highly reliable source, because we have to make contingency plans for things like that just in case it happens."

In the backdrop of this mystery around Narine, West Indies will remain the underdogs in the series until a Pollard or a Bravo or a Sammy does something stunning to bring the crowd back to the grounds, at least for the limited overs games.