5 Similarities between current Indian team and the Windies of 1980s

The Indian team, lately, has been the talk of the town due to the performances it is displaying around the world. Recently, they created history by becoming the first Asian team to beat Australia in their own backyard in Tests and also registered their first ever bilateral ODI series against the Aussies in their backyard. The Indian juggernaut seems to be unstoppable as the team is currently 2-0 up in the five-match series against the Kiwis.

After the series against Kangaroos, former Australian opener Dean Jones, in his column, compared the current Indian outfit to the mighty Windies of the 1980s. According to Deano, Kohli’s team is quite similar to the legendary Clive Lloyd’s side of the 1980s in terms of fear factor as the Men in Blue showed the promise to win in any conditions across the globe.

Clive Lloyd built a Windies side which was capable of thumping any side in the world irrespective of where they are playing. The fact that the Carribean side did not lose a single Test series through the period of 1984-91 establishes their juggernaut. The legacy of the team was later carried forward by Sir Viv Richards after Super Cat’s retirement in 1984.

The invincible Windies side of the 80s had a perfectly balanced team with a good mix of batsmen, bowlers, and all-rounders. The only Achilles heel for them was the lack of good spinner in the side but the brilliant pace attack took care of that as well. For many, the Windies of the 1980s is the greatest Test team ever and the only team that reached closer to matching their potential was Steve Waugh‘s Australia.

However, it is believed that Kohli’s side has many similarities to the Clive Lloyd-Viv Richards’ side in terms of potential, ruthlessness, aggression, and fear. The never-say-die attitude of both the teams and the belief to win from any situation make them stand out from the rest.

Let’s have a look at a few of the similarities between the two sides that made cricket pandits bestow such a huge compliment to the current Indian side:

1. Charismatic and Aggressive Captain

Clive Lloyd was more of a great leader than a great captain who took the reins of the team from Sir Garfield Sobers in the 1970s. The 74-year-old did the assessment of the side’s needs and built a team with top-class players and backed them to perform well. It is believed that the ‘Super Cat’ himself assembled the brutal bowling line-up that was never seen before.

He handpicked Michael Holding, Colin Croft to join the experienced Andy Roberts to form a pace attack that demolished the opponents’ batting for years. The southpaw’s aggressive captaincy added even more flavour to the Caribbean team which went on to rule the world. He carried the team on his shoulders destroying every single team they played against and hence establishing Windies’ bandwagon.

Virat Kohli is quite similar in traits to the Windies counterpart and possesses equal charisma on the field leading the side. Taking the responsibility of the team from his mentor MS Dhoni, the Delhi-born skipper changed the course through his aggressive captaincy and hunger to win matches especially abroad. The Indian team, under Kohli’s leadership, is no more a pushover and always plays attacking brand of cricket.

The 30-year-old Indian skipper backs his team, learns from the mistakes and encourage youngsters due to which the team’s performance has enhanced over the years. Under Kohli, they have displayed the intent to win big matches against top quality sides. The Indian skipper is more of a great batsman than a captain but slowly he is getting matured and developing as a great leader and the recent Australia tour proved the same.