It was a strange morning for India on Wednesday when they left for Queen's Park Oval for one final practice session ahead of the fourth Test. The news of Australia crashing to their third straight defeat against Sri Lanka had reached the Caribbean shores, which meant that Virat Kohli's men arrived at the venue as the No. 1 Test team in the world.
As the mandatory warm-up drills began, clear skies gave way to dark clouds and a couple of nets sessions later, the players had to rush back, as for the second straight day, the practice session was marred by rain.
The pitch had to be quickly covered and no detailed look at the strip was possible. After being forced to practice indoors on Tuesday, there was little the players could do than to wait for the rain to subside. The news of them reclaiming the top spot only provided some succor.
Captain Virat Kohli, who said that India's final XI will now only be selected on the morning of the match explained how rain breaks result in a loss of momentum. “Sometimes when you have too many interruptions, some people tend to think they can relax, but I think you require more concentration in an interrupted game. When there are no breaks, you can plan according to how the game will go for five or four days. But with breaks, your plans and concentration will be disrupted very quickly. The term that people say, 'switch off and switch on', I think that is the most important factor in an interrupted game.”
Now that India occupy the top position, Kohli said consistency is what the team will strive for. India have been consistent in the Test format, winning their last three Test series against Sri Lanka (away), South Africa (home) and the ongoing series against the West Indies in the Caribbean. "It's a nice incentive (to be No.1), but it doesn't really change anything for the team. Our goal has been to play good cricket, and we've done that in the past one year or so. We want to continue with the same.
"Even last year, when we won against South Africa, because of some other team losing we became number one, for a brief period. I think to be best side in the world, you need to play consistent cricket for a span of 3-4 years. This is a pretty immediate and short term incentive. You have to play good cricket for a sustained period of time to actually be the number one team in the world. We have played good cricket, that's why we've climbed up the rankings."
Having pocketed the series 2-0, the captain ruled out the possibility of multiple changes. "Nowadays, the game is so competitive that you can't make changes forced on giving people chances in between a series. One or two spots will be available for changing and trying some other player, but I don't think we can make too many changes as far as one series goes, because we're playing a big season. We're playing at home as well, so you want players to be in that kind of mindset where they feel like, they come into the next series, they know they're in the starting XI and prepare accordingly.”
While there has been rain forecast in the coming days, the Queen’s Park Oval remains a happy hunting ground for India. The fourth match will be the 13th time that India will play Test cricket at this beautiful venue. Of the 12 Test matches, they have won three, drawn six and lost three. India haven’t played here since 2002, but in their last tie in Port of Spain, Sachin Tendulkar had brought up his 29th ton, equaling Sir Donald Bradman’s record. The current batting coach, Sanjay Bangar was also part of that game, which India won by 37 runs.
The ground has seen many records in the past and the one to look out for over the next five days is for the bowling. In tremendous form in the series, R. Ashwin can become the joint-fastest to 200 Test wickets if he manages to get eight wickets in the Test.
