India vs West Indies 2nd Test: Hosts’ endurance bolsters Test cricket credentials

Fortune and form change. They take time, but they do change. But, for that to happen, one has to stand the test of time. West Indies, in the second Test against India, did exactly the same.

The once-fearful West Indies are now laughed at, generally. The format wherein they prevailed in, massacring teams around the world, gradually and unfortunately became their weakest. Not long ago a clambering team — led by an inexperienced 24-year-old leader — was reduced to rubble against Virat Kohli’s dauntless men. Let alone drawing a Test, they were staring at a whitewash. However, fortune and form change. They take time, but they do change. But, for that to happen, one has to stand the test of time. West Indies, in the second Test against India, did exactly the same. They punched well above their weight, surprised one and all by rescuing themselves from another probable defeat. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: India vs West Indies 2016, 2nd Test at Kingston

To bounce back from a loss, one not only needs a stroke of inspiration but also show of character. West Indies lost by an innings and 92 runs at Antigua. Compared to India, their skills were unmatched and efforts peerless. They started the second match in the same fashion.

On a track that offered swing and turn, they opted to bat first. It seemed they dug their own grave, stuttering to 196 all-out on Day One. Nonetheless, let us rewind a little.

Ishant Sharma’s twin strikes ensured the hosts were 7 for 3. The other pacers were equally ferocious. In fact, they showed no mercy, whatsoever. The West Indian batsmen were dancing to their tune. The only way to get out of the maze was to take the bull by its horn and attack at full blast, so much so that the opposition’s rhythm gets unsettled.

Jermaine Blackwood threw his bat away at a wide-and-short delivery. The shouts of ‘catch it’ echoed the empty Sabina Park. But the ball had already sailed over backward-point. Blackwood’s intention was clear: see the ball, hit the ball.

He hit sixes at will, most of them were the traditional stand-and-deliver strokes. Be it a pacer or a spinner, Blackwood dictated terms in his own style. By Test standards, he scored a quick-fire 62-run knock. To remind you, he grabbed a pair in the first Test, and was likely to warm the bench. IND vs WI Live Streaming: Watch live telecast on Ozee.com

His innings may not have affected the scoreboard, but it indeed compelled the veteran Marlon Samuels to emulate the same, as he smashed two sixes of India’s trump card Ravichandran Ashwin.

In reply, India bettered West Indies’ score and handed them a 304-run lead, courtesy KL Rahul’s magnificent 158.

West Indies’ second innings was no different than the previous ones in the series, as the scorecard read 48 for 4 after 15.5 overs, with rain suspending fourth day’s play.

The sun smiled upon India on the ultimate day, giving them 90-over play to skittle out the hosts.

At the crease was the first-innings hero Blackwood. He, yet again, fired on all cylinders and plundered 63 runs off just 54 balls. To bat at a strike rate of 116.66 against a quality Indian attack was commendable. All the same, that wasn’t enough for them to jump out of the woods. They needed more substance. More than aggression, this time they needed someone to lead the resurgence.

Roston Chase, who was just playing his second Test, was at the brink of a defeat. By then, saving a Test match was out of the equation.

Nonetheless, he is armed with a solid technique: stands tall and manoeuvres the ball according to its angle.

The track had lost its venom, but there was still some reverse swing. Kohli stationed players around his bat to catch even the slightest of inside edges. Bouncers were hurled every over, with short mid-wicket eagerly waiting for a catch.

As a matter of fact, he outfoxed Kohli’s tactic. He flicked past mid-on when the ball was pitched up, and took the safer route, pulling over the inner circle when bowled short. He grasped the field very well, an aspect that takes years to establish.

Under the baking heat, Indian fielders lost the vigour they wore in the morning. Chase, along with Shane Dowrich, added 144 runs for the third wicket. Half a day’s play was done, and India managed to take only one wicket. Their race against time had begun.

Dowrich, at the other end, displayed lovely strokeplay, but was adjudged lbw off Amit Mishra’s quicker one. India got the breakthrough they were toiling for.

In came captain Jason Holder to held West Indies’ fort. He has a reputation of playing proper cricketing shots. All he had to do was get his act together.

Kohli was forced to take his tiring fast bowlers off the attack. With Mishra from one end and Ashwin from the other, West Indies fed on the slow nature of the track and kept finding boundaries every over. In addition, they smartly coupled sixes with ones and two, exhausting the fielders as well. Also read: Roston Chase’s resilience gifts hosts unlikely draw

While Chase scored his maiden ton, Holder reached his fifty. Eventually, at the twilight of the day’s play, both captains decided to end the match in no result.

West Indies have talent at their disposal. All they had to was display tenacity. They may be thin on numbers still, but they passed the test of execution as well as endurance with distinction. If they continue to do so, they might even reboot the West Indies cricket to where it was in the ’70s and ’80s. However, they have to apply the same way they did in the second Test. The question: can they stand test of time, time and again?

(Kaustubh S. Mayekar, a reporter at CricketCountry, played cricket at U-16 level. Like his idol Rahul Dravid, he often shadow-practises cricket shots. His Twitter handle is @kaumedy_)

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