Barbados: India and West Indies will mark their 100th Test as the two sides meets at the Queen’s Park Oval with the visitors leading the 2-match series, 1-0. The focus will however be on Mumbai-born Ajinkya Rahane who will look to pile on the runs as the India aim to sweep the series against a weak West Indies side starting today.
Following an innings and 141-run victory in the first Test, Indian management might take no major changes in the playing eleven but it remains to be seen if left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat gets another opportunity. Unadkat bowled only nine overs in the first Test and did not pick a single wicket.
Neither West Indies nor India play another Test for the next five months at least. So both teams will be looking to make the most of this opportunity, apart from pocketing some World Test Championship points. West Indies will be looking to achieve some stability with the bat, and India will hope that Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan spend a considerable time in the middle.
The Trinidad pitch will draw a lot of attention after the Dominica pitch had a lot more than anticipated by batters from both sides. The pitch started crumbling from the first day and had varied bounce throughout the duration of the Test match. playing at home, Windies should ideally ask for a batting strip in Trinidad to give their batters the best chance to score some runs.
After the Test series, the ODI series will see 3 games, and the T20I series will consist of 5 matches with the series ending on August 13. Both teams then play a five-match IND vs WI T20I series. The first two matches will be played in Trinidad, the next two in Guyana, and the final game in Lauderhill, Florida.