West Indies v India, 2nd Test, Jamaica, Day 5 - Well played Roston Chase!

The Rain Gods gave West Indies a great opportunity to salvage pride in Sabina Park. But the West Indian reply in the second innings was shaky as usual. It annoyed me a lot. The mother nature wants them to utilize the opportunity provided to them, but they were up to wasting those. An uphill tasked was awaiting for the West Indies on the final day.

A batsman named Roston Chase threw eggs on my face on the final day. Let me be clear, I was not happy with the inclusion of this cricketer. I wished to see Carlos Bairthwaite who averaged almost 45 and a handy customer with the ball as well. In that sense, the presence of Chase, who was not performing well, was quite disturbing for me.

But Chase proved me wrong. He played the innings, which was much needed for West Indies and Test cricket. Had Chase not fought yesterday, Test cricket would not have been benefited at all. West Indies would not have found the reason to smile and feel confident to play Test cricket.

On a flat deck, occupation at the crease was the most vital thing and Chase did it extremely well. He curbed his instincts to take risks and played strokes, according to the demand of the situation. When he did essay some attacking strokes, he looked graceful. He motored the innings the way Shiv Chanderpaul and Larry Gomes used to do for West Indies once upon a time and it’s wonderful to see, West Indies have found a batsman who could instill stability in the batting order. 

The the useful contributions from Shane Dowrich and Jason Holder cannot be forgotten. They provided the perfect foil to Chase's composure and Dowrich has certainly cemented his place in the team for a brief period. 

The Indians will not be happy at all with this result. Virat Kohli will rue about his decision to declare the innings late for the sake of a personal milestone. I hope he has learned a lesson from this.  

Thank You

Faisal Caesar