India vs West Indies 2018, Second Test: 5 things that you may have missed in the match

It was a day of disappointment for Cricket fans in general when Windies couldn't repeat their fight with the bat in the second Innings. India once again crushed Windies with a comfortable 10 wicket victory. It all began with the return of Skipper Jason Holder for the Second Test, the side looked more balanced. Windies won the toss and decided to bat first on a lifeless wicket. The top order couldn't make the most of the friendly batting conditions on offer. At 113/5 things looked very dull for the visitors, but they managed to post 311 on the board- courtesy fighting innings from Roston Chase and Skipper Holder. Roston chase scored his 2nd Test century against India.

In reply, India started well scoring freely and youngster Prithvi Shaw was at his absolute best once again. KL Rahul cut a sorry figure for himself. But with the healthy contributions from Skipper Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant India managed to gain a handy lead of 56. The visitors were mighty impressed with the ball, especially Holder leading from the front. He grabbed a five-wicket haul to suppress the Indian innings to a below-par total.

Sadly Windies couldn't repeat their batting effort in second innings. They never seemed to apply themselves to put the pressure back on Indians. Umesh Yadav, Ravi Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja managed to destroy Windies batting line up. The visitors only managed to score 127 runs, setting a target of 72 for the hosts. Indian victory was imminent, but the only question was how fast? Prithvi Shaw and KL Rahul didn't disappoint as they chased the target comfortably within 17 overs.

Here are the 5 things you may have missed from the Second Test match:

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#1 Jason Holder became the second Windies player to score a 50 and take a 5 wicket haul in India

In Test cricket, a bowler not only has to be a wicket-taker but also needs to assert control from one end. Jason Holder is one such bowler who brings both aspects into the game. When he doesn't get wickets he controls the innings from one end with tight lines and helps his partner to capitalize.

When Windies were reeling at 182/6 in their first innings, Holder and Chase together stitched a valuable partnership to take windies to safe score. Holder scored a well compiled 52 in the process. With the ball, he not only made his presence felt in the match but also his absence in the last match. He wrecked havoc on Day 3 to grab a 5 wicket haul to restrict India to under par total. As a result, he became only second Windies player after Malcolm Marshall to take a 5-for along with a half-century in the same match in India.

#2 Windies registered their longest batting effort in last 7 years

There has been a constant criticism of batting effort from the Windies in the last few years by the cricketing experts. On so many previous occasions, Windies failed to last till the second New ball in an innings. In the first Test match at Rajkot, all they managed was to bat 98.5 overs in the entire match and scored 181 and 196 respectively. It resulted in a huge loss by an innings and 272 runs for the visitors.

But Windies managed to put up a great fight with the bat in the second Test match at Hyderabad. Winning the toss, they batted first on a flat wicket. Despite being 113/5 at one stage, they managed to put up 311 runs on the board with the help of centurion Roston Chase and skipper Holder batting for 101 overs. It was the first time since November 2011, that Windies managed to bat more than 95 overs in India.

The last seven scores for WI in India read 134, 234, 168, 182, 187, 181 and 196.

#3 Umesh Yadav is first Indian fast bowler to take 10 wickets in a Test match at home since 1999.

With the injury of debutant seamer Shardul Thakur, India had no option but to manage with a lone seamer in Umesh Yadav for the entire match. And Umesh Yadav lived up to the expectations and in fact, gave more than his captain expected from him. It all started when he trapped Shai Hope in front of the stumps and Yadav never looked back. On Day 2, he grabbed 3 remaining wickets of Windies to get his five-for.

Riding high on confidence, he produced a similar display of fast bowling to take Four wickets in the second innings. With that Umesh Yadav became the first Indian fast bowler to take 10 wickets at home since 1999 when Javagal Srinath who achieved this feat against Pakistan. Before him, only fast bowlers Srinath and Kapil Dev have had the honours to take ten wickets in a game for India at home.

#4 Captain Virat Kohli now leads the chart of highest Test runs by a captain in Asia

Virat Kohli is a familiar name in the cricketing world, irrespective of which country fans belong to. He has been playing for India across formats with superficial consistency. He simply loves batting and scoring for his team and as a result, records follow him match after match. After he took over the Test captaincy from MS Dhoni in 2014, he has shouldered more responsibility and has been doing the bulk of the scoring for Team India. A captain leading from the front in true essence.

Today with his 45 run knocks, Kohli became the highest run scorer as a captain in Test cricket from Asia. With 4222 runs at an astonishing average of 66, Kohli surpassed the likes of Misbah Ul-Haq (4214), Mahela Jayawardene (3665), MS Dhoni (3454), and the legendary Sunil Gavaskar (3449).

The way Kohli is going about his batting and fitness standards, it is a matter of time to tumble most batting records in Cricket.

#5 Poor Quality of SG balls provided in this Test Series

Soon after the First Test match at Rajkot, Indian off-spinner Ravi Ashwin expressed his displeasure over SG balls. A day before a second Test match, Indian Skipper Virat Kohli came in support of his bowler to complain about the quality of balls provided in the series. He rated Duke as best balls to play Test cricket around the world. The complaints were about deteriorating seam and shine within a short span of play.

It was proved right today when the ball had to be changed within first 10 overs of the innings as it failed to pass the hoop test. It didn't end there, just after 14 balls bowled with the changed ball, it was sent for hoop test to the umpire and it failed again! Another ball had to be brought to continue the play. This is something never observed before in matches played in India.