Follow UsAt many junctures during the first Test in Dominica, it felt like there was only one team out there in the middle, and that was India. The brutality that India served is highly NSFW (Not Safe for Work), and in the end, West Indies were left in a deep muddle.
Genuinely, it isn’t the best time for Windies cricket, and given how the struggles seem to continue, it doesn’t feel like there is an end to it in the near future. Kraigg Brathwaite’s men need more than just a few strings to beat Rohit Sharma’s Indian team, who shredded them with immaculate bowling.
“It’s a big occasion (100th Test against Windies). It’s an honour to be taking the Indian team into this game and it doesn’t happen every day. The two teams have so much history, so much good cricket played. I will expect no different in this Test. I am sure they (Windies) will bounce back and it will be exciting for both teams,” the Indian skipper Rohit said before the clash.
However, it remains to be seen if Windies will dig their grave again. The pitch in Dominica wasn’t giving the Men in Maroon an advantage, and it was like India brought out the pitch at Chepauk with them on the flight.
But remember, this is the 100th Test that West Indies will play against India, and now more than ever, they have a point to prove
Things to watch out for
Alick Athanaze, one for the future
Just a month before making his Test debut, Alick Athanaze announced himself on the world stage when he knocked a glorious quick-fire half-century that was laced with nine fours and three sixes, striking well at 144.4. A month later, he donned the most stoic of faces in a knock that genuinely made him turn heads around.
Against a quality bowling unit like India, Athanaze well and truly put on his ‘A’ game, with some grit and determination in Dominica, earning praises from all quarters. In both innings, his scores of 47 and 28 - were the highest score for a West Indian in the clash.
Athanaze’s First-Class record isn’t the best - 1900 runs @ 36.53 - but how he carried his game against the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja certainly makes West Indies sweat less on a batter for the future. The question remains: Can he brave a second-Test syndrome and stand tall yet again?
Can Windies finally make hay while the sun shines?
Unlike Dominica, the pitch here at Queen’s Park Oval will be a pacy one. It will undoubtedly provide the Windies pace unit a huge ray of hope and will really put the visiting Indian batters under more test than the opener. On the same line, there exists a temptation for West Indies to bring an extra pacer for one of the two spinners.
In that case, the pacer is likely to be Shannon Gabriel. Not only does he know the conditions quite well, but his wealth of experience could also well and truly provide the Men in Maroon with control, something they lacked massively in the first Test. Gabriel’s last Test was way back in March, against South Africa.
While his record at home - 86 wickets @ 26.16 - is quite eye-pleasing, there exists a caveat. Against India, he averages 52.28 and has picked up just 14 wickets and a total of nine wickets at home. Will Gabriel make a noticeable difference to the pace unit?
Time for Gill to take more responsibility
“They (Team management) asked me where I wanted to bat, and I said I wanted No. 3. It is a position where I want to consolidate,” said Shubman Gill ahead of the first Test. Gill knows exactly the shoes that he has to fill - and also knows how large of a shoe it is, considering how Pujara has bailed India out on numerous occasions in the past.
For Gill, who was batting at No.3 after a long while, the situation couldn’t have been much better when he walked out to bat at 229/1. But to his horror, after just three overs, Gill was undone by the extra bounce from Jomel Warrican, walking back for just six. If you ask the right-hander, he would be ashamed of missing out on a golden opportunity to score huge.
With Gill set to be India’s No. 3 for the near future, the second Test at Port of Spain could be a stepping stone.
Pitch and Conditions
Let’s put this out first: there are huge chances of rain playing a role in this second Test, which wouldn’t please the visitors. What to expect from the pitch? Conditions at the Queen’s Park Oval have generally assisted the quick bowlers.
Since 2018 (when the last Test was played here), pacers have enjoyed significant success, averaging 27.39 and striking at 61 compared to the spinners (36.57, 88.7). Even if you roll the year back to 2015, pacers have picked up 62.9 % of the wickets, which will come as good news to the Windies’ bowling unit.
The average first-innings total at the venue has been 238, with the conditions being tougher to bat in the second innings, where teams have just managed to score 185. So, expect teams to bat first and take the fullest advantage of the conditions.
Tactical Nous
Tagenarine Chanderpaul vs Ravichandran Ashwin was quite a good battle to watch in the first Test, and it won’t change anytime soon in the second Test either. Against off-spinners, Chanderpaul has just averaged 12.5 in his career and further has been dismissed twice, including that bowled against Ashwin in the first innings. His strike rate of 18.7 isn’t really helping, either.
Even though the conditions are more conducive for pacers, India must think long before separating the spin duo of Ashwin and Jadeja. Alongside Jadeja, Ashwin has 271 wickets in 48 games at an average of 21.7 and a strike rate of well under 50. But without the left-arm spinner, Ashwin averages 26, with a strike rate above 50. Jadeja, with Ashwin, has 224 wickets, averaging 20.7, but when he’s played alone, he averages 39.4.
Predicted XIs
West Indies might ponder making some changes, considering the conditions on offer and the health of Rahkeem Cornwall, who wasn’t entirely fit during the second and third day of the first Test.
West Indies (probable): 1 Kraigg Brathwaite (capt), 2 Tagenarine Chanderpaul, 3 Alick Athanaze, 4 Jermaine Blackwood, 5 Kirk McKenzie, 6 Jason Holder, 7 Joshua Da Silva (wk), 8 Rahkeem Cornwall/Kevin Sinclair, 9 Alzarri Joseph, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Shannon Gabriel/Jomel Warrican
India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3 Shubman Gill, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Ishan Kishan (wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Shardul Thakur, 10 Jaydev Unadkat, 11 Mohammed Siraj