The first session of the Test match was an attritional one.
The track was hinting about some life and Shannon Gabriel made the ball to bounce,
which tested the Indian top order batsmen. Shannon was the only bowler who
looked lively enough, while the others bowled as if their main goal is to
contain the Indian batsmen. You can contain a batting team, but at the other
end, you need to attack to pick up wickets. Only Bishoo is a wicket taker, but
legspin won’t workout against Indian. I expected fast bowler from the Under-19 squad, Joseph,
to feature in the team. He would have given this Caribbean bowling attack some
teeth.
The Indian top order batsmen were cautious, but as soon as
Virat Kohli entered into the scene, the scenario changed. Immediately, he set
the tempo by unleashing well-timed drives and accelerated the run rate. Shikhar
Dhawan, who shelved his intent to play the ball outside off and drive, started
to use his feet and fetch boundaries after lunch along with Virat. The West
Indian bowlers started to feel the heat.
The track started to slow down and run scoring needed patience. Virat witnessed
the departure of Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane, but he was not bothered at all. He
kept on scoring runs in patches – quiet periods followed by productive ones,
and ultimately, at stumps, he was not out on 143. It was his twelfth Test hundred
and many more to come.
Virat’s bat is on fire and it seems 2016 will be his year.
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
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