By Tony Becca - On The Boundary 
THE WEST Indies victory over India in the seven-match one-day series has left their fans in high spirits.
After losing the three-match Test series 2-0, the West Indies hit back to win the one-day contest 4-3 and suddenly the fans, the same ones who were strong in their condemnation of the team a month ago after it had lost the first two Test matches easily, the same ones who shouted at the top of their voices that the team cannot bat, cannot bowl and cannot field, are now singing its praise.
So much so that they are now looking forward to the World Cup with great expectations.
Looking back at the seven matches, however, the only thing worth praising is the West Indies batting.
Apart from Jermaine Lawson's brilliant performance in the deciding seventh match, the West Indies bowling remains a problem; and apart from Ramnaresh Sarwan's fantastic catch to dismiss Rahul Dravid - also in match number seven, their fielding is also still a problem.
The batting, however, has shown promise - tremendous promise.
After their tentative approach in the first two Test matches - an approach which saw them pushing and prodding like novices, the batsmen went into the one-day series, backed their skills, batted confidently and sensibly and, apart from Shivnarine Chanderpaul who also did well in the Test series, no praise is too high for Christopher Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Sarwan and Marlon Samuels.
And it is not only because of the runs they scored. It is also because of the manner in which they scored them.
From the powerful Gayle to the elegant Samuels, each one is different in his style of batting, Gayle is 23, Sarwan is 22, Samuels is 21, and although Hinds is 26, they paraded a class that promises great things in the future.
Remembering that the pitches in the first two Test matches were different from those in the third Test and the one-day internationals, that but for Chanderpaul they were found wanting in Jodhpur on the one pitch in the one-day matches that favoured bowlers, and that batting is easier in one-day internationals than it is in Test matches because the bowlers do not have the same latitude in which to operate - in which to 'work out' or 'set up' a batsman, it may be too early to blow the trumpet.
The fact is, however, that unlike the bowlers who have not been bowling well and who did not bowl well in either the Test matches or the one-day internationals, who did not bowl well regardless of the pitch, the young batsmen demonstrated a class that hinted that with a few adjustments here and there, with a desire to succeed backed by hard work in the nets, by the time they come to the age of maturity they will be champions.
Based on the performance of the batsmen in the one-day internationals in India, the power of Gayle and Hinds, the strokeplay of Sarwan, the class of Samuels as underlined in the third Test and the final one-day international, and the reliability of the solid Chanderpaul who is still only 28, in another year or so the West Indies could parade a batting line-up second to none - a set of batsmen with the ability not only to score a lot of runs but also to thrill those who love exciting batting.
