Chennai: After defeating West Indies in the first Test at Antigua comprehensively by a staggering 318 runs to get full 60 points on the ICC Test Championship points table, Kohli and his men will be vying to end the tour with a complete sweep when the two teams meet at Jamaica for the second and final Test match of the series tomorrow.
All eyes will be on Ajinkya Rahane, who finally put an end to his century-less barren run in Test matches for the last two years with a crucial half-century and a century in the first Test. that silenced all his detractors. The knock also came at a crucial stage, when he walked into bat with Windies pacers bundling out India’s top order in the first session on the first day. His partnership with KL Rahul first and then with Hanuma Vihari helped India get to a strong position.
Also, another challenge for the Windies are speedsters Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah. They ripped apart the Windies batting line-up, that too Bumrah’s fifer in the second innings deserves special credit for the hosts were reprehensibly bundled out for a meagre 100, creating the new Indian record for the highest margin of victory in overseas Tests.
Desperate to taste success and put some points on the board, Jason Holder and his men will look to give a good fight in Jamaica. The West Indies batsmen, especially the top-order failed miserably in the first Test and a good performance from senior batsmen opener Kraigg Brathwaite and his partner John Campbell will be crucial for the Windies. It remains to be seen how the Windies batsmen counter the challenge of Bumrah’s yorkers.
West Indies have also lost one of their pacers in Miguel Cummings and Keemo Paul, who is his replacement might be preferred at his place. India played with only four bowlers in the last game and considering the dry nature of the pitch at the offing at Kingston, Kohli might be tempted to go in with an extra spinner by dropping a pacer.
Mayank Agarwal, who had a good first two Tests in Australia scoring a couple of the fifties, didnt get the kind of start that he would have expected in the first Test, after scoring 5 and 16. He will look to get back to the runs. Test specialist Pujara also struggled against Kemar Roach’s swing on both the innings of the Test and he will also utilise the second Test to get back to scoring the bulk of runs for the team that he usually does.
The second Test is all set to kickoff tomorrow at 8 pm and Kohli and his men hope that they become the first team in ICC Test Championship to win a series.