Gill’s 10th century, Jadeja’s scalps take India towards another early finish
INDIA vs West Indies
SECOND TEST | Day 2
Stumps
New Delhi, Oct 11: Shubman Gill the batter led the way with his 10th 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 in the second Test, here 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. (PTI)
SCOREBOARD
India 1st innings:
Yashasvi Jaiswal run out (Chanderpaul/Tevin Imlach) 175 KL Rahul st Imlach b Warrican 38. B Sai Sudharsan lbw b Warrican 87
Shubman Gill not out 129
Nitish Kumar Reddy c Jayden Seales b Warrican 43 Dhruv Jurel b Roston Chase 44
Extras: (W-2) 2. Total: (For 5 wickets in 134.2 overs) 518. (Declared)
West Indies 1st innings:
John Campbell c Sai Sudharsan b Jadeja 10 Tagenarine Chanderpaul batting 13 Alick Athanaze c Ravindra Jadeja b Kuldeep Yadav 41 Shai Hope not out 31
Roston Chase c and b Ravindra Jadeja 0
Tevin Imlach not out 14
Extras (LB-8, NB-2) 10
Total (For 4 wicket in 43 overs) 140. Fall of wickets: 1-21, 87-2, 106-3, 107-4.
