It took West Indies two Tests to discover India’s Achilles heel – the short ball. Virat Kohli needed two Tests to check the temperament of Chesteshwar Pujara, Umesh Yadav and Amit Mishra. They failed, and Kohli rang in the changes on Tuesday.
But what ultimately unravelled at the Darren Sammy Stadium was a little anti-climactic for India. Murali Vijay was supposed to be fit but Kohli’s perseverance with KL Rahul paid off to some extent. Rohit Sharma again got a chance but this time the script went a little different. India were 98/4 after 32 overs on the first day.
What changed between then and now is how West Indies were ready to crank up the pace. By giving Alzarri Joseph his first cap, West Indies captain Jason Holder walked his pre-game talk of adding an extra pacer. And Joseph set up the morning for the hosts by making Virat Kohli almost lose his balance with a bouncer that whizzed above his shoulder!
That one delivery almost gave licence to West Indies to mount a full blown assault aimed at the Indian batsmen’s throats. Joseph lived up to his reputation, snapping up Kohli with a short one again. Pitched short, the ball climbed on Kohli, denying him any room as the India captain was forced to fend to Darren Bravo at first slip.
{{/usCountry}}That one delivery almost gave licence to West Indies to mount a full blown assault aimed at the Indian batsmen’s throats. Joseph lived up to his reputation, snapping up Kohli with a short one again. Pitched short, the ball climbed on Kohli, denying him any room as the India captain was forced to fend to Darren Bravo at first slip.
{{/usCountry}}That Joseph is no one-trick pony was established when he lured Rohit into a ball that was angled in and moved away at the last moment, taking a faint edge. Outside the stadium, around 20 people protested Darren Sammy’s sacking from the Twenty20 side.
But the team inside had a fairly good idea what to do. Rohit’s wicket was proof of that. Only once did Shannon Gabriel make the mistake of testing Sharma with a short ball. Rohit swivelled and pulled him over backward square-leg for a boundary. West Indies never bowled that line to him again.
Among the four dismissals, Shikhar Dhawan’s was the meekest. Flirting with a Shannon Gabriel delivery going down the leg, Dhawan ended up gifting a simple catch to Shane Dowrich.
For the first time in his career, Rahul couldn’t convert a fifty into hundred, but given the circumstances, he did really well for himself with a 65-ball 50. Displaying ease against Joseph and Gabriel, Rahul played every ball on its merit without compromising on the run-rate. Everything outside off was dispatched with disdain, but even Rahul couldn’t have seen his dismissal coming from Roston Chase’s off-spin.