Upbeat India look for encore

Kingston (Jamaica), July 29 

After registering a comprehensive win in the series opener, an upbeat India will look to assert their supremacy over an inexperienced West Indies with yet another commanding show in the second Test, starting here tomorrow.

India made a confident start to the season, recording India’s biggest win outside the sub-continent when they thrashed the hosts by an innings and 92 runs in the opening Test.

India will look to continue in the same vein in Anil Kumble’s debut series as chief coach.

But it would be easier said than done as a green pitch awaits the visitors at Sabina Parka, a stark contrast to the conditions on offer in Antigua, where the visitors had won the match in four days.

Going by past records, it was way back in 2008 when a Test lasted five days at Sabina Park, which Australia won by 98 runs. Since then, all the five Tests that have taken place here have finished within four days, including India’s 63-run win in 2011.

West Indies’ last Test here was against Australia in the summer of 2015.

While it is tough to say which team will be happier to see the green pitch, the hosts will surely feel that the equation will perhaps be more balanced.

While India will find comfort in a settled line-up, there are some obvious points to ponder over like the fitness of opener Murali Vijay.

The opener has missed action since being hit on his thumb by Shannon Gabriel on the first morning of the series, and didn’t field for a single minute in West Indies’ two innings last week.

In the lead-up to the upcoming Test, Vijay batted a bit in the nets on Wednesday but skipped the optional practice session yesterday. India have a good option in KL Rahul, who scored runs in the practice games ahead of the Test series.

The other issue is about the team combination and whether skipper Virat Kohli will opt for a five bowler attack once again.

During the home series against South Africa last year, he had moved away from this strategy when faced with difficult wickets. At the same time, on a greenish wicket in the third Test against Sri Lanka previously, he had opted for Stuart Binny.

If West Indies do pick another pacer, or even two more, an additional full-time batsman would mark a conservative selection on Kohli’s part, especially since India’s three frontline batsmen — Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane — contributed only 45 out of 566 runs in Antigua.

At the same time, Kohli also has to think about his bowlers’ workload in what will prove to be a long season.

I’m not too worried about my form, says Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara scored his last half-century six innings ago but the Saurashtra batsman is “not too worried” about his own form, saying he is happy as long as he is contributing in the team’s success.

Pujara was dismissed for just 16 during India’s only innings in the first Test against West Indies at Antigua. “No I am not worried. Overall I have been batting well. Even in the South Africa series, there have been good scores and some good batting on challenging wickets. So at times you have to be realistic and see the contribution without seeing whether I am getting hundreds or big double hundreds. It’s always about contributing to the team’s success,” Pujara said.

“At the same time I realised that I played a bad shot in the last Test when I was looking good. I did the hard work in the first session when the ball was moving.” — PTI

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