The Mumbai school of batting preaches filling one’s boots when the opportunity presents itself, not throwing one’s wicket away when the bowling ceases to present a stiff challenge.
That’s what Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma did on Day 2 of the first Test against the West Indies in Dominica. The former, especially, showed maturity beyond his 21 years of age to score a hundred on Test debut and putting up a double-century opening stand with his captain, a fellow Mumbaikar himself, who too helped himself to a ton.
The leap in the air, both arms aloft and the beaming smile from Jaiswal after nudging the ball into the leg-side for his 100th run made all the hardships and sacrifices in his formative years worthwhile.
Playing 350 balls in an innings is a commendable feat for seasoned batsmen. Jaiswal had already done so in first-class cricket back home and proceeded to do so in his first outing for India. He was unbeaten on 143 at close, guiding India to 312/2, a lead of 162 with a stranglehold on the game.
Jaiswal deserved the slice of luck late in the day when an LBW appeal off Kemar Roach was turned down, a decision that would have been overturned on review. But the West Indies had already burnt their three reviews.
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The dry pitch at Windsor Park was offering considerable turn, but Rahkeem Cornwall and Jamal Warrican are no world-beaters with hundreds of wickets under their belt. The former any way had to leave the field pretty early in the piece, forcing skipper Kraigg Brathwaite to bowl all but two of his players – including himself – without much return.
They bowled with the old ball for 100 overs, keeping a lid on the scoring rate for most of the day. The Indians, too, were not in too much of a hurry, and were content in ensuring that there was as much wear and tear on the surface as possible. As a result, the 90 overs in the day yielded only 232 runs.
The West Indian bowling attack is not the strongest going around. But one can only face what is in front of them. Rohit and Jaiswal put their heads down, with the aim of pushing the hosts out of the match and India having to bat only once in the game. The likes of Vijay Merchant, Dilip Sardesai, Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar would make it a point to make it count when they got in and not get too carried away when runs came too easily.
In emulating the giants of yesteryear, Rohit and Jaiswal could well have sealed an opening combination, a left-right pairing to boot, that could serve India with distinction over the next couple of years. Suddenly, Shubman Gill dropping down to No.3 to give Jaiswal his preferred position doesn’t seem such a bad idea.
Jaiswal may have faced stronger bowling attacks in the Indian Premier League, and even in domestic cricket, but he showed immense maturity and great temperament to bat for a long time, so much so that one could be forgiven for forgetting that it is his maiden appearance in India colours.
Captain shows the way
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At the other end, Rohit went about his business calmly and serenely. As skipper, he knew what needed to be done. The wicket is not expected to get any easier for batting, and judging by how ineptly the West Indians played Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the first innings, the hosts will have an even tougher job in the second essay.
Rohit’s 10th Test hundred, secured when he eased an Alick Athanaze full toss through the offside, was a serene and seemingly inevitable outcome. But he was gone next ball when he gloved a catch to alert wicketkeeper Joshu da Silva, ending a 229-run opening partnership, and giving the impressive debutant his maiden Test scalp.
Gill didn’t last long either, but by then India were 90 runs in front and the long batting at their disposal, coupled with the shaky home line-up and the pitch not getting any easier to bat on, made the West Indies distant second-best in the contest.
Virat Kohli joined Jaiswal and though he was not his free-scoring self, surviving a few anxious moments against spin, was keen to bat time and get a huge lead. The former captain was unbeaten on 36 at stumps, the partnership already worth 72.
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The only possible criticism of the Indian batsmen could be that they didn’t put the West Indies bowlers under a bit more pressure in the first session. Only 66 runs came in 32 overs after 80 had been scored in 23 overs late on Day 1. The final session brought 67 in 32 overs.
India went past the West Indies score of 150 early in the second session, and the two openers became a bit more enterprising thereafter. Holding all the cards, then Rohit and Jaiswal got into white-ball mode for a short period – shuffling around the crease, hitting aerial shots, and in general showing a lot more aggression.
The apparent mismatch between the sides, and the seeming inevitability of the course which the match is likely to take, made for a lopsided contest.
Mismatch
A team bundled out for 150 on the opening day after winning the toss, and the other going well past that score without losing a wicket doesn’t say too much about the match-up. India needed to show ruthlessness and do what it had to as the WTC points table punishes teams for not winning games that they dominated.
India were just 70 adrift of the West Indian score when they started the day, but in the 32 overs bowled in the morning session, they couldn’t level the first innings score despite not losing a single wicket. There was considerable turn on offer and Cornwall troubled both Jaiswal and Rohit with spin and bounce. But neither the burly off-spinner nor left-arm spinner Warrican showed the consistency needed to take advantage of helpful conditions. The Indian openers took a safety-first approach, choosing to grind the opposition rather than taking the game by the scruff of its neck in the first session.
Both batsmen were seemingly content to play the waiting game and aimed to set the platform for a huge first innings lead that would allow India to bat just once in the game. But it belied the approach that India were said to be adopting in the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle – that of taking the aggressive option.
But the Indians wanted to get way ahead of the game before becoming too adventurous. Jaiswal was making his Test debut while Sharma wanted to make up for some indifferent recent scores. It’s easy to be positive when the team is hundreds of runs in the lead, but with the bowling hardly posing any major challenges – apart from the spinners getting the odd ball to beat the bat and some anxious moments due to the ball deviating from a straight line – the outcome of the day and the game seemed a formality. It prompted the commentators to talk about India’s upcoming series in the current WTC cycle (as this one was probably considered in the bag already), and the breathtaking tourist attractions that Dominica possesses.
The West Indies have improved as a Test side in recent years, especially at home, but even an Indian team missing some of its key players looks to be a tough proposition.
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