West Indies left Ahmedabad on Saturday with another heavy defeat and some familiar questions. India wrapped up the first Test by an innings and 140 runs midway through the third day; it means the Caribbean side have now lost five of their six Tests this year. Roston Chase, standing in at the post-match press duties, did not hide from the numbers yet insisted the responsibility sits, first and foremost, with the players.
“There is obviously a struggle in the Caribbean for finances,” he admitted. “I am not using that as an excuse. I still think that the onus is on the players to find some way to churn up runs and wickets.”
That funding issue – and what it does to pitches, practice nets and everything around them – has become a recurring topic. Chase described “infrastructure problems” that, in his view, make batting volumes of overs harder than it should be at first-class level.
“The pitches in the Caribbean are not really batsman-friendly,” he said. “So guys don’t really bat for long periods and score those big scores. And then, too, the outfields in the Caribbean are really slow. When you hit the ball in the gaps, you probably end up struggling to get two.”
Those conditions feed into some stark statistics. In their last 15 Test innings West Indies have passed 250 only once; Tagenarine Chanderpaul’s first-class average of 34.80 was, remarkably, the best among the top six who played in Ahmedabad. Chase also brought up the Australia tour in July, when the side were bundled out for 27 at the SCG and no batter raised a century during the three-match series. “This has been something that has been plaguing us for the past two series,” he noted.
Saturday followed a similar pattern. Shubman Gill won the toss but it was West Indies who chose to bat. They were 162 all out in 44.1 overs, then 146 in 45.1 the second time around – barely half a day’s batting across two innings.
“Anytime you win a toss in a Test match and bat and you don’t bat out the first day, you’re always going to be in trouble,” Chase said. “We saw the wicket. Although it had a bit of moisture, we still thought that it was a good wicket to bat first on.”
Former West Indies opener Philo Wallace, speaking on regional radio, sympathised but felt technique rather than grass length was the issue. “Nobody likes slow outfields, but they cannot be blamed for missing straight balls,” he argued. Indian batting coach Vikram Rathour, meanwhile, praised his own bowlers for exploiting “whatever movement was there early and then using reverse swing smartly”.
Away from the numbers, there remains a genuine worry that limited resources at home – some islands now have just one fully functioning first-class square – are shrinking the talent pool. Cricket West Indies hope new ICC distribution models will help. Until then, the squad must make do.
Chase finished on a pragmatic note. “Whatever help we can get, if they are planning to get the help, I hope that we do get it so that we could strengthen the infrastructure for cricket,” he said. “But we still have to find a way. That’s our job.”
