India had come into the match with 5 of their regulars missing out. Sehwag, Gambhir, Tendulkar, Zaheer and Sreesanth have been an integral part of the side that has climbed to the top of the Test rankings . Replacing them would be a huge ask and there were many people who had doubts if India were taking the West Indies a little too lightly. West Indies themselves were crippled by the absence of Gayle. For a while after Dhoni had won the toss and opted to bat on a moist pitch it looked like the doubters would be getting a lot to talk about. India had slumped to 86/6 with Bishoo and Rampaul doing considerable damage.
The pitch was encouraging for the young leggie on the first day itself and he had picked three of the most senior batsmen (Laxman, Dravid and Dhoni) in the Indian side. Raina's shot selection throughout the ODI series had left a lot to be desired and with just four wickets left it looked like India would be shot out for a score under 150. Harbhajan though had other ideas. He was no stranger to the situation. He had played quite a few knocks before where he fought gamely after the top order had caved in. His counter-attack seemed to fill Raina with a lot more confidence too as he took his time to get his eye in and displayed very good temperament. The short ball had been a bane for Raina on quite a few occasions before, but this time he opted to just evade the short ones than going for a risky pull or two. Together they put on 146 invaluable runs for the 7th wicket and took India to a respectable score.
246 on a track that was wearing out pretty quickly was a decent score but by no means a match winning one. India needed wickets and needed them early. Ishant Sharma, who was under the scanner not so long ago, seemed to have regained his mojo. The dismissals of Sarwan in both innings amply demonstrates why. He got him with a sharp off cutter in the first innings and with one moving away from an identical line in the second. He was never known to swing the ball but these slight deviations with good pace were the characteristics of that famous spell against Ponting which shot him into the limelight.
Adrian Barath was the only batsman to show some fight and he got a sprightly 64 before he became one of the three victims of debutant Praveen Kumar. His spell broke the spine of West Indies and they never really recovered after that. Even though he was banned from bowling for the rest of the innings for treading on the danger area 3 times in the innings, the spinners proved too hot to handle for the other batsmen. A lead of 73 was worth its weight in gold on this track.
India needed to drive home the advantage with a solid performance in the second innings and once again the responsibility fell on Rahul Dravid's shoulders. The wicket was beginning to act up. Vijay had been dismissed by one that almost rolled on the surface. Some were going over the head, some were shooting low. There was big turn on offer too. Younger batsmen had been breathing down the neck of the 38 year old in recent times. He relished the challenge and replied in characteristic fashion. With the bat. This innings may not be the best he has played but it was significant in terms of answering a few people who were questioning his ability based on a few poor series'.
The last few years have been honeymoon periods for a few Indian batsmen and Dravid was conspicuous by his absence. Once again he made a statement for technique over flair. On a track that offers considerable assistance to the bowlers India are yet to find a batsmen as competent as Dravid. The premature retirement talks have to be put on hold for quite a while for he showed that he still is indispensable.
Batting last and chasing 326, the odds were stacked against the inexperienced West Indies. Even the statistics didn't offer them much hope - the previous highest successful chase at the Sabina Park before this game was 212. The openers started positively though but failed to last longer. West Indies desperately needed one of their top order batsmen to play a long knock. In short someone needed to do a Dravid for them to have any chance of winning. Chanderpaul and Bravo had shown willingness to fight it out as they remained unbeaten at the end of the third day. All their hopes were dashed when the disciplined Indian bowling snapped up 6 wickets in the first session on day 4.
India had three debutants for the game and only Praveen Kumar managed to make an impression with 6 wickets. The biggest plus for India from the game would have been the performance of Raina. His talent was never in doubt but application is where he fell short on quite a few occasions. His knock in the first innings could well be his coming of age in Test cricket. As he said after the ODI series, that he will talk to the senior members and the coach in sorting out his weaknesses, he seems to have worked on those during the gap between the ODIs and the first test. So full marks to him for implementing what he worked on.
For West Indies, Fidel Edwards remained energetic throughout and Bishoo is developing a very good habit of picking up the biggies. Rampaul and Sammy stuck to their strengths and the bowling performance overall was something they can take a lot of heart from. There was nothing much to write home about their batting and it remains to be seen if they can step it up in the coming games. For a young Indian side this will be a great confidence booster and they can carry the momentum to Barbados - which has been their bogey ground in the Caribbean - where a different track and a different Test awaits
The pitch was encouraging for the young leggie on the first day itself and he had picked three of the most senior batsmen (Laxman, Dravid and Dhoni) in the Indian side. Raina's shot selection throughout the ODI series had left a lot to be desired and with just four wickets left it looked like India would be shot out for a score under 150. Harbhajan though had other ideas. He was no stranger to the situation. He had played quite a few knocks before where he fought gamely after the top order had caved in. His counter-attack seemed to fill Raina with a lot more confidence too as he took his time to get his eye in and displayed very good temperament. The short ball had been a bane for Raina on quite a few occasions before, but this time he opted to just evade the short ones than going for a risky pull or two. Together they put on 146 invaluable runs for the 7th wicket and took India to a respectable score.
246 on a track that was wearing out pretty quickly was a decent score but by no means a match winning one. India needed wickets and needed them early. Ishant Sharma, who was under the scanner not so long ago, seemed to have regained his mojo. The dismissals of Sarwan in both innings amply demonstrates why. He got him with a sharp off cutter in the first innings and with one moving away from an identical line in the second. He was never known to swing the ball but these slight deviations with good pace were the characteristics of that famous spell against Ponting which shot him into the limelight.
Adrian Barath was the only batsman to show some fight and he got a sprightly 64 before he became one of the three victims of debutant Praveen Kumar. His spell broke the spine of West Indies and they never really recovered after that. Even though he was banned from bowling for the rest of the innings for treading on the danger area 3 times in the innings, the spinners proved too hot to handle for the other batsmen. A lead of 73 was worth its weight in gold on this track.
India needed to drive home the advantage with a solid performance in the second innings and once again the responsibility fell on Rahul Dravid's shoulders. The wicket was beginning to act up. Vijay had been dismissed by one that almost rolled on the surface. Some were going over the head, some were shooting low. There was big turn on offer too. Younger batsmen had been breathing down the neck of the 38 year old in recent times. He relished the challenge and replied in characteristic fashion. With the bat. This innings may not be the best he has played but it was significant in terms of answering a few people who were questioning his ability based on a few poor series'.
The last few years have been honeymoon periods for a few Indian batsmen and Dravid was conspicuous by his absence. Once again he made a statement for technique over flair. On a track that offers considerable assistance to the bowlers India are yet to find a batsmen as competent as Dravid. The premature retirement talks have to be put on hold for quite a while for he showed that he still is indispensable.
Batting last and chasing 326, the odds were stacked against the inexperienced West Indies. Even the statistics didn't offer them much hope - the previous highest successful chase at the Sabina Park before this game was 212. The openers started positively though but failed to last longer. West Indies desperately needed one of their top order batsmen to play a long knock. In short someone needed to do a Dravid for them to have any chance of winning. Chanderpaul and Bravo had shown willingness to fight it out as they remained unbeaten at the end of the third day. All their hopes were dashed when the disciplined Indian bowling snapped up 6 wickets in the first session on day 4.
India had three debutants for the game and only Praveen Kumar managed to make an impression with 6 wickets. The biggest plus for India from the game would have been the performance of Raina. His talent was never in doubt but application is where he fell short on quite a few occasions. His knock in the first innings could well be his coming of age in Test cricket. As he said after the ODI series, that he will talk to the senior members and the coach in sorting out his weaknesses, he seems to have worked on those during the gap between the ODIs and the first test. So full marks to him for implementing what he worked on.
For West Indies, Fidel Edwards remained energetic throughout and Bishoo is developing a very good habit of picking up the biggies. Rampaul and Sammy stuck to their strengths and the bowling performance overall was something they can take a lot of heart from. There was nothing much to write home about their batting and it remains to be seen if they can step it up in the coming games. For a young Indian side this will be a great confidence booster and they can carry the momentum to Barbados - which has been their bogey ground in the Caribbean - where a different track and a different Test awaits
