7 great cricketers who struggled in Tests in India

#3 Desmond Haynes

Desmond Haynes

Desmond Haynes's Test career spanned from 1978 to 1994. For almost the whole time, he played for the West Indies they were the best team in the world. Haynes played a big part in the West Indies dominance too, as he played 116 Tests, making 7487 runs at an average of 42.30.

Haynes was very comfortable against pace, as an opening batsman should be. However, with spin, it was another matter.

In all the countries outside of Asia, Haynes averaged 30 or more, with him being at his best at home, where he averaged 56.06. But conversely, in all the countries in Asia where he played Test cricket, Haynes averaged below thirty. Haynes played 10 Tests against India, yet only managed 377 runs at an average of 22.18.

The contrast in Haynes worth in varying conditions is shown by a couple of series in 1983. In this year the West Indies first hosted a five-match series against India. Playing at home, Haynes was his usual self with the bat: reliable and technically sound.

In this series, he scored 333 runs at 55.50. The West Indies very next tour was also against India, but this time it would be a six-match series in India. Here Haynes struggled greatly, ending up making just 176 runs at 17.60.

Further emphasizing the disparity in Haynes's effectiveness in different conditions, is that the next series he played was at home against Australia, where he made 468 runs at 93.60. This suggests that rather than being a drop in form, Haynes's record in India is more likely due to flaws in his game.

Haynes also provides yet another example of an Indian bowler having a great batsman in his pocket. Only one Indian bowler dismissed Haynes more than Kapil Dev. The opener also fell eight times to Ravi Shastri, with these dismissals spread across 28 innings.

Shastri's left arm finger-spin was decent, but with 151 wickets at an average of 40.97, it is strange that he would hold such an impressive record over such a skilled batsman. In fact, Shastri didn't get any other batter out more than six times, meaning Haynes was comfortably the batsman he had the most joy against.

Haynes was a brilliant batsman, but India and Shastri exposed a significant weakness in his game.