Tym Glaser, Associate Editor, SportBWOY, WHAT a difference a good, old-fashioned butt whipping of a side can make!
Just a couple of weeks ago, fans across the Caribbean were lamenting what a waste of time the one-day sweep of minnows Zimbabwe was.
I didn't mind because I won a nice little bottle of VX from my mate Ossie B., but the general consensus was that it was a poor build-up for big fish, India. The chopping and changing of the team also didn't go down too well either but, hey, just look at the Windies now!
Stop the world, they've just beaten up on India too, and are playing with renewed confidence and enthusiasm spawned from gobbling up the small fry from Africa.
A look at the scoreboards from the first three games suggest either team could have won as they all went into the final over, but the bottom line is the Windies did win two of those pressure-cooker matches and that's even more laudable because it shows they are starting to mature a little and cope with pressure.
SARWAN KEEN TO GROW
I'm still not convinced that Ramnaresh Sarwan is the rock upon which this young team (skipper Lara aside) can be built, but it looks like he's keen to grow into the role and let's hope his two man-of-the-match performances (98at Sabina and 115in St. Kitts) can vault him on to greater things.
Chris Gayle and Shiv Chanderpaul, before yet another injury, seem to be rediscovering their strokes, Lara well, he's Lara, Dwayne Bravo seems to be on another upswing in his topsy-turvy all-round career and Carlton Baugh may just have passed Denesh Ramdin for the job behind the stumps in both versions of the game; not so much for his glovework, but for his clean late-order hitting.
BOWLED WELL
Fidel Edwards and Ian Bradshaw bowled well without huge success and they were ably supported by the all-round brigade of Samuels, Gayle and Bravo.
However, before we crack open the bubbly and start celebrating World Cup glory next year, it was a pretty average Indian team the Windies got by.
Mohammed Kaif, Harbhajan Singh and Ajit Agarkar aside, the team underperformed dreadfully and enhanced its reputation as a terrible show when on the road. The Indians' world ranking of three is a statistical illusion.
WELL BEHIND
Maybe if all their games were at home it would be tres, but they are certainly well behind the top two of Australia and South Africa and by no means better than Pakistan and England.
Of course, now the focus shifts to the four-match Test series and that's a whole different ball game, but it will also provide a gauge of how much this side and these players have really improved.
Technical deficiencies can't so easily be hidden or excused in Tests and let's see how keen and chirpy this team is after a couple of hot days in the Antiguan sun.
With the exception of Daren Ganga, the rest of the Windies' side will basically come from the one-day squad.
SEASONED CAMPAIGNERS
India, on the other hand, bring in seasoned campaigners Anil Kumble and V.V.S. Laxman and talented opener Wasim Jaffer to significantly bolster the Test side and provide the hosts with a much tougher test.
I still believe the series will end in a stalemate, but if the Windies have the better of that or even, gulp win, then that would definitely be cause for some celebration; not the bubbly, but maybe a wee dram of VX or two.
