2nd Test, Day 2: West Indies reach 140/4 at stumps, trail hosts India by 378 runs

Shubman Gill the batter led the way with his 10^th century and then the captain gave his strike-bowler Ravindra Jadeja enough time to tighten the noose on West Indies as India galloped towards another comprehensive victory in the second Test here  on Saturday.

Gill (129 not out) cruised to his century in the post-lunch session but without caring for an easy double hundred which looked inevitable against a poor bowling attack.

He declared the Indian innings with hosts reaching 518 for five, one hour into post lunch session.

What stood out on the day was how ‘Gill the batter’ and ‘Gill the skipper’ were in perfect sync.

The skipper didn’t let the ‘batter’ take over in pursuit of personal glory even though there was enough time at his disposal to beef up his personal statistics.

Despite the pitch not having any significant wear and tear, it was still good enough for Ravindra Jadeja (3/37) to work his magic in tandem with Kuldeep Yadav (1/45), reducing West Indies to 140 for four in 43 overs.

For Viv Richards and Brian Lara, seated in the stands, watching the application from some of the Caribbean batters certainly wouldn’t have been amusing.

John Campbell would consider himself extremely unlucky for the way he got dismissed. His full-blooded sweep that should have gone for a boundary, rammed into Sai Sudharsan’s knuckle and got stuck as he was trying an evasive action.

But Tagenarine Chanderpaul (34) and Alick Athanaze (41) added 66 runs before Jadeja and Kuldeep struck in quick succession.

Chanderpaul perished while trying to open the face of the bat as he dabbed one down to third man and was caught in slips by KL Rahul.

Athanaze played a forgettable hoick when Kuldeep baited him and the lob was taken by Jadeja at mid-wicket.

Skipper Roston Chase (0) offered a tame return catch to Jadeja and it was a tale of familiar collapse.

The second day was all about trying to make a sense of Gill, who is starting to be impressive with each passing day.

The skipper, who faced 196 deliveries, hit 16 boundaries and two sixes, added 91 for the fourth wicket with Nitish Kumar Reddy (43) and 102 for the fifth wicket with Dhruv Jurel (44), who decided to up the ante after lunch.

India on the second day batted for 44.2 overs and added 200 runs to the overnight score of 318 for two.

Gill’s century came with a cut shot off Khary Pierre that got him three runs. With his fifth century in last seven Tests apart from a half-century in the previous game, the skipper showed that the batter in him hasn’t exactly been affected.

Even as Yashasvi Jaiswal (175, 258 balls) was unfortunately run-out at the start of the day, Gill’s concentration didn’t waver as he controlled the tempo of the game as per his will.

When the field was brought up, he would hit over the top. If the West Indies skipper Chase packed the off-side field, Gill inevitably played on the on-side.

Once a flurry of boundaries were hit, Chase was forced to keep a deep point and a deep square leg to cut down on boundaries. That helped him use the wide gaps to take those singles and doubles.

The best shot of the morning session and that too by a distance was the one that brought up Gill’s second fifty of the series.

With a packed off-side field, Jayden Seales bowled on middle-leg with Gill flicking it through the vacant mid-wicket region. When Justin Greaves was brought into the attack, his lack of pace allowed Gill to step out and loft him over mid-wicket for his first six.

Gill, who had decided to defend during the final hour of the opening day, came out with a different mindset. It only helped that Anderson Phillip sprayed all over and was hit for a flurry of boundaries. A delivery on the pads was quickly dispatched behind square on the leg-side.

In his next over, Phillip was cut square of the wicket—one a bit late behind square and the other in-front with same intent that produced same result. There was an on-drive and when the keeper was brought up to the stumps with ‘7-2’ off-side field, he stepped out and hit over extra cover.

The only possible mode of dismissal for Jaiswal (175) seemed to be a run-out, and Gill could be held partly responsible as it was Jaiswal’s call after he had pushed the ball slightly to the right of mid-off.

By stumps on the second day though, Gill had more than made amends for his mistake in the morning.