John Campbell and Shai Hope fashioned an admirable fightback for the West Indies in the form of a 138-run unbroken third-wicket stand after hosts India enforced the follow-on on Day 3 of the 2nd Test in Delhi.
Windies spinner Khary Pierre insists there is plenty left in the wicket for the batters. “It's about application. This is the first time we have been able to win a session in the two Test matches so far,” he said.
Campbell’s career-best 87* alongside Hope’s 66* pushed the Caribbean side to 173/2 at stumps, still needing another 97 runs to make India bat again. Tagenarine Chanderpaul (10) and Alick Athanaze (7) were earlier dismissed cheaply.
Legendary West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding delivered an emotional tribute to his former teammate Bernard Julien on the Mason & Guest programme in Barbados, on Tuesday--and made plain his growing disillusion with the modern state of West Indies cricket.
Holding said he has not watched West Indies cricket for four years. Yet he spoke at length about the personal debt he owes Julien, recalling a generosity that left an indelible mark.
“My association with BJ goes before 1975--it goes back a couple of years before that because BJ and myself played in a President’s XI game in 1973 against Australia in Jamaica. That is the first time I had any international experience. I was 18 years old, approaching 19. BJ pretty much took me under his wing in that specific game,” Holding said.
He described a vivid memory of Julien taking him aside before a team function. “We had a cocktail party to go to and of course it wasn’t the West Indies team-- we didn’t have blazers… I was 18, still at school; I had no fancy dress.
Barbados and West Indies cricket icons The Most Honourable Desmond Haynes and Joel Garner are expected to form part of the Barbados Pride’s think tank ahead of the upcoming CG United Super50 tournament in Trinidad and Tobago.
MIDWEEK SPORT has been reliably informed that the Barbados team’s hierarchy has reached out to the legendary duo to join the camp and provide their “wisdom, knowledge and vast experience” as the team gets set for the 50-over event slated for the second half of November in Trinidad.
Garner, a giant fast bowler, and Haynes, a superb opening batsman, rank among the greatest players of all time. They were members of the all-conquering West Indies team of the 1970s and 80s and were Cricket World Cup winners in 1979.
Discussions are also being held with several other former Test players to share their “expertise and skills to help upskill the players” as part of the build-up, sources have confirmed.
On a typically slow Feroz Shah Kotla track, the West Indies bowling was disciplined - no extras through the day - without being penetrative in the first and final sessions; in the middle session, they lost all accuracy as India plundered 126 runs without a wicket.
Jaiswal just reacted purely to what was bowled at him. He was watchful for the first hour, then cashed in on some loose bowling, and then tightened up again as West Indies found their bearings in the final session. At one point, when Jaiswal was on 93, the fast bowlers had served him six half-volley boundaries, four short-ball boundaries, and one off just fuller than good length. Against good-length balls, Jaiswal didn't try to score boundaries.
Jaiswal is now level with Graeme Smith for most centuries as an opener under the age of 24. Among all India batters, only Sachin Tendulkar scored more hundreds before his 24th birthday. Of course, for the fifth time out of his seven centuries, Jaiswal went past 150. Only Don Bradman had more scores of 150 or more before turning 24.
The other 23-year-old, Sudharsan, would have desperately wanted to get his count going. Chosen to play Test cricket with a first-class average under 40, he must feel under a little pressure as the No. 3 in a country full of batting talent. He came out to join Jaiswal early on after Jomel Warrican spun one alarmingly past the bat of KL Rahul. Sudharsan added 197 for the second wicket with Jaiswal, played his first false shot on 58 and was dropped, and got out to only his third false shot in a 165-ball innings: again a Warrican delivery that turned alarmingly.
West Indies head coach Daren Sammy is looking forward to a much-improved showing from his side when they take on India in the second and final Test match here, on October 10. The match bowls off at midnight, TT time.
The Windies slumped to an embarrassing defeat by an innings and 140 runs inside three days in the opening Test on October 4, their fifth loss in their last six Test matches.
Speaking during a press conference on October 8, Sammy said the team had done some serious introspection following the loss and was in positive spirits.
He said judging from the way the players approached their training session on October 8, he was expecting a motivated side in the final Test.
"Things have not been going well for a little bit...I see some of the guys lack confidence and it’s something that has to come from within, but you know with lack of performances it’s always hard to rise yourself above that level.
