Debasis Sen, Kingston(Jamaica) : They say fortune favors the brave . Once again it was evident at the Sabina Park as young and inexperienced West Indies lower middle order batsmen Roston Chase, Shane Dorwich, Jermaine Blackwood and captain Jason Holder put up a stupendous rearguard action to draw the second test against India. The hosts looked completely down and out after the first four days. But great determination coupled with positive mindset saw them defend a total of 89 overs on the last day of the test match.
Indian coach Anil Kumble credited the West Indies batsman for holding fort and surviving the whole day to save the test match. According to Kumble, “Obviously we wanted to win this Test match. Yesterday, I thought, we were in a very good position and credit to the West Indies batsmen, the way they batted.
Yesterday, the time lost was very crucial for us, because we were in great momentum and the conditions were such that, it could have been different if we had probably bowled yesterday. There was loss of play, more than 100 overs in this Test match. But all those factors mattered. In the end, credit to the West Indian batsmen, how they batted today and their application as well.”
Chase went on to equal Sir Gary Sobers record of scoring a century and taking five wickets in the same match. Kumble credited the West Indies batsman more than criticizing his own bowlers on a flat and slow Sabina Park wicket.
“The West Indian captain also was speaking about the character of the team at the post match presentation ceremony. It’s creditable for someone playing his second Test match to bat through the day and save the game for his team. So obviously, Chase’s approach today was very good. He looked to attack when needed to and blocked literally every ball, so kept our bowlers at bay, which was obviously disappointing from the outside. As I mentioned, I think all their batters, right from Blackwood, Holder and Dowrich, all of them applied themselves and it’s something that we also have to sit down and analyze as to how we’re going to get the last five wickets because in this series they have certainly contributed,” commented Kumble at the post match press conference.
There could be a debate on whether India delayed their declaration or not. But according to Kimble, “No, I don’t think so. You can’t really look at the forecast and take decisions. If you looked at the forecast on Day 3, it was supposed to rain the whole day and even Day 4 it was supposed to rain. So you can’t really look at the forecast and decide what you need to do. Yes, you strategies slightly differently. Having said that, we wanted to bat once because irrespective if you’d have declared probably at the end of second day with 160 on the board, you may have to have batted today. It’s all nice to now sit and say when we should have declared and what if, but I thought we played really good cricket, we were dominant right throughout and today, you know the change in momentum happened and credit to the West Indian batsmen. You obviously feel from the position we were in that we should have probably wrapped up the Test match, but having said that this is certainly something that happens in a Test match. You have times when the opposition puts up a brave challenge and that are exactly what happened.”
Talking about their plans as the day progressed a visibly upset Kumble said, “The plan was always to take wickets. Initially, since we had 300 runs on the board, we were attacking and they came hard at us as well, and they got away in the five or six overs. They got a lot of runs. And once that one or one and half hour period happened, I believe the ball went a bit soft as well. So it was quite difficult to get the purchase that we were getting yesterday and the conditions were different as well. It was cloudy, there was some rain about and there was a lot more swing. So in that sense, we could have probably adapted better, but having said that the West Indian batsmen really applied themselves, so it was quite hard for our bowlers and this was certainly learning. I’m sure next opportunity, whenever that is, the bowlers will be probably come up with a different approach, in terms of the challenge.”
The biggest positive for India so far in the series has been the form of Md Shami. The bowler looked impressive so far after coming back from a long injury lay off. Speaking on Shami, Kumble said, “I’m really happy for Shami. Coming back after 18 months is not easy. The way he has come back and bowled aggressively, yesterday I thought he bowled the best spell that I have seen, a fast bowler running in and right through the Test. Even today in the last session he was running and bowling at 140. That says a lot about his fitness and his motivation to come back as well. It’s not easy for a fast bowler after an injury, I’m really pleased that he has come back. He’s an important cog for us. We don’t want to look too far ahead.” Further adding, “I think he feels a lot stronger now and his rhythm has been good. The problem was with his knee which was affecting his run up. Once that was sorted and he was fit and came back, fast bowling is all about rhythm and the run up. Once he got the rhythm I think the confidence came back. We’ve seen from the start of the Antigua Test to now, his confidence is far greater. That’s because he has a lot of overs under his belt.”
The Indian team now travels to St Lucia to take part in the third test match beginning from August 09. On being asked how he is going to assess the situation ahead of the third test , he commented, “If everything happened just how we thought it would, life would be very easy. In the morning we were keen to win the Test and confident that we could. At Tea when they were 15 ahead, and there were 30 overs left, we still felt that we could win the game. We approached it like that. The approach that we want to win does not change at any stage. But, yes, you’re right, there’s plenty to learn from this game. When you bowl on the last day, trying to win a match and get only 2 wickets bowling almost 90 overs, you will learn things. We will sit and talk about this, the game has just ended and we have five days before the next Test. We will talk about all these things,” as he signs off to board the team bus.