India took control of the second Test match from start to finish with some fascinating display of batting and bowling.
India won the Test by an inning and 15 runs and went up 2-0 in the three-test series. India swashbuckled 631 for 7 declared in their first and only inning in the match. Rahul Dravid, batting number three for his team, scored 119, VVS Laxman 176 not out, Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni 144 and opener Gautham Gambhir 65.
Some vital partnerships contributed to India’s big total; the biggest coming from Dhoni and Laxman of 224 runs for the seventh wicket. Dhoni and Laxman took the score from 396 for 6 to 620 for 7 when Dhoni departed. Laxman and Dravid Gambhir together scored 83 runs.
West Indies Bowling
Devendra Bishoo (1 for 154 from 45 overs), Darren Sammy (2 for 132 from 250 overs), Fidel Edwards (1 for 81 from 22.2 overs), Kemar Roach (2 for 106 from 26 overs), Kraigg Brathwaite (1 for 43 from 6 overs), Marlon Samuels (0 for 104 from 27 overs).
West Indies Bowled Out For 153 From 48 Overs
Darren Bravo 30 and Marlon Samuels 25.
How Wickets Fell
1 wicket for 3 runs, 2 for 30 runs, 3 for 42 runs, 4 for 46 runs, 5 for 92 runs, 6 for 99 runs, 7 for 120 runs, 8 for 129 runs, 9 for 129 runs, 10 runs 153 runs.
The West Indies were put into bat a second time after they were bowled out for 153 in the first innings.
West Indies Bowled Out For 463
Darren Bravo scored his second test century an aggressive 136, a classic and entertaining innings mixed with some fluent display of superb strokes and perfect placing. Marlon Samuels 84, Kirk Edwards 60, Adrian Barath 62. Darren Bravo and Shivnarine Chanderpaul shared in a partnership of 108 runs for the fourth wicket; Bravo and Samuels 132 runs for the fifth wicket and a 93-run partnership between Adrian Barath and Kirk Edwards for the second wicket.
India’s Bowling
First Innings
Umesh Yadav: 3 for 23 [7 overs]
P. Ojha: 4 for 64 [22 overs]
R. Ashwin: 2 for 49 [14 overs]
Second Innings
Umesh Yadav: 4 for 80 [17.3 overs]
Ishant Sharma: 2 for 95 [25 overs]
R. Ashwin: 2 for 37 [40 overs]
P. Ojha: 2 for 104 [35 overs]
Gayle’s Omission Is Hurting Windies Team
The experience of Chris Gayle as a batsman and former captain, along with his extensive knowledge of the conditions of wickets in the sub-continent cannot be challenged. Furthermore, Adrian Barath’s hamstring problems continued in Bangladesh and he also missed the first Test in India.
He played in the second Test and scored a half-century in the second innings. When both of a teams regular openers are not playing and the team is filled with a majority of young and inexperienced players, what type of results do you expect?
Low Turnout In Tests
Indian cricket spectators are actually not going to the ground because most of the cricketers playing for the Windies have not yet established big names in India and the West Indies are low in the I.C.C. Test bracket.
The O.D.I. is expected to be of more interest and entertainment with much more younger cricketers competing in the shorter version of the game for example, Suresh Raina for India and Andre Russell for the West Indies.
The West Indies team is playing without the best possible players and as a result, it would be difficult for the team to defeat top opponents. The young players are now learning about wickets and different conditions of play. Apart from Chris Gayle, every effort should be made to get Jerome Taylor the Jamaican fast bowling all-rounder back in the squad.
