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Team India will play the second Test of the ongoing series against the West Indies (WI) at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad from Thursday, July 20. The visitors have been supremely clinical so far, winning the first Test by an innings and 141 runs.
West Indies, on the other hand, are guilty of not even providing a fight to the opposition despite playing in their home conditions. Hundreds from Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma and then a sensational 12-wicket haul from Ravichandran Ashwin with the ball was enough to sink the men from the Caribbean.
To produce a better fight in Trinidad, the West Indies will need to win most of the important match-ups and ensure they keep the opposition batters and bowlers at bay. On that not, let's take a look at three interesting player battles from the upcoming Test:
#3 Ajinkya Rahane vs Kemar Roach
Ajinkya Rahane's comeback to international cricket was nothing short of sensational as he was by far the best batter from his team in the World Test Championship (WTC) final. He looked in great form and couldn't have asked for a better tour than the West Indies where he was averaging more than a hundred before the tour began and was also named as the vice-captain of the Test side.
However, the veteran batter was dismissed for just 3 by Kemar Roach in Dominica and missed out on getting a big score. With India's next Test assignment being in South Africa as late as December, the Trinidad Test could be crucial for Rahane to get among the runs again. He will be up against Kemar Roach, who has already dismissed him twice, including once in the last game.
#2 Alick Athanaze vs Ravichandran Ashwin
The one WI batter that has caught the attention of most fans who watched the first Test is young West Indies left-hander Alick Athanaze. The youngster was arguably the only batter from the hosts who showed some sort of fight and looked comfortable against the opposition spinners.
However, despite scoring 33 runs against Ravichandran Ashwin in the first Test, the veteran spinner dismissed Athanaze in both innings. This has proved to be an excellent match-up and the one that could decide whether the hosts' batting can stand tall in Trinidad.
#1 Virat Kohli vs Rahkeem Cornwall
Star batter Virat Kohli is set to enter the history books by playing his 500th international game when he takes the field in Trinidad on Thursday. He looked good for his 76 in the first Test and will be keen to celebrate the landmark with a hundred in Trinidad.
Over the past few years, Kohli's weakness against off-spin has started to become more and more visible, especially in Test cricket. Even in the Dominica Test, he was dismissed by a brilliant delivery from West Indies off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall.
This makes it an interesting face-off as Cornwall would also get extra bounce because of his height. It will be intriguing to see how Kohli plays Cornwall, especially if there's enough help in the pitch for spinners.
