India vs. West Indies Day 2: Indian pacers have their job cut out at Kensington Oval

Ishant Sharma troubled the batsman with steep bounce on Day 1

The first day of the Test match at Kensington Oval between West Indies and India was as eventful as one had expected it to be. The ball was doing quite a lot from the deck and in the air, which is conventional at this venue. A total of 13 wickets went down and India was reduced to a mere 201 runs. West Indies threw away any advantage that they might have hoped to obtain by losing three wickets before the close of play. There are a few positives for both the sides.

Darren Sammy justified the team selection and his own place as the West Indies pace attack penetrated India’s top order once again with ease. Abhinav Mukund could not prolong his stay at the center more than a few minutes as he succumbed to Ravi Rampaul. Rampaul continued his impressive form this season as he managed to pick up the other Indian opener as well. Murali Vijay did his best to battle the odds as he resisted for 75 balls for his 11 runs. However, the major breakthrough wicket came in form of Rahul Dravid. He was dismissed by West Indies skipper Darren Sammy.

When India went to lunch, they were four wickets down and had not even put 50 runs on the board. The ball was swinging from the hands of the bowlers to the point it was gathered by the wicket-keeper. In such challenging conditions, VVS Laxman stood tall once again. Laxman and Raina occupied the crease in the next session and in the process played their natural free-flowing game. Both of them complemented each other in terms of style, naturally aggressive and with a penchant for cover drives. Raina was eventually dismissed unluckily as the partnership came to a halt. He scored 53 valuable runs.

Devendra Bishoo broke into the rest of India’s line-up as captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni failed to make a relevant contribution with the bat once again. India were bundled out within the first day once again. The onus was on the bowlers to make count of the favorable conditions. India kept Amit Misra out in this match so as to play three seamers and the move worked. It was Ishant Sharma who got the first breakthrough when Adrian Barath played a nothing shot right down the throat of gully. Praveen Kumar followed this up with the wicket of Lendl Simmons. He was caught behind the wickets by Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The third and final blow was made by Abhimanyu Mithun in the last over of the day. Darren Bravo edged an away swinging delivery to Dhoni’s delight as India completed a comeback of sorts.

On the morning of the second day, the pitch is unlikely to change. This implies that India will be eyeing wickets upfront so as expose the vulnerable middle order. The first step would be to dismiss the night watch-man Devendra Bishoo and make sure he does not weather the storm in the first hour of the play. Ramnaresh Sarwan is a gritty customer and he will be a prized wicket along with that of Shivnaraine Chanderpaul.