Windies seeking to level series after humbling defeat

2018 Windies tour of India 2nd Test…

– Roach, Holder return to side

After a humbling defeat at the hands of the Indians, a shaken up Windies will look to rebound in a major way as they prepare to lock up in the second Test which bowls off from October 12-16 at Hyderabad.
The Windies were crushed by a whopping innings and 272-run margin after a number of centuries were scored by India Captain Virat Kohli, debutant Prithiv Shaw and all-rounder Ravi Jadeja who scored his maiden Test ton.
The second Test will be crucial for the Windies after they have been outplayed in virtually both departments. It was important for the visitors to have a first-hand look at the ruthless Indians in their own backyard as they would have learnt a little when it comes to reassessing their approach for over the weekend.
Kohli and his men, namely the two other centurions will be itching to carry on from their respective hundreds in the last game while a solid middle-order with Cheteshwar Pujara, Vice-Captain Ajinka Rahane and possibly both KL Rahul could suffice for the batting players.

India flexed their ultra-potent bowling attack primarily dominated by the spinners in the skillful Kuldeep Yadav, veteran Ravi Ashwin and Jadeja who will seek to feast upon the Windies weakness to spin in the subcontinent. The spinners were lethal in the first game but India will want to see a bit more venom from their fast-bowlers on the Hyderabad surface.
The visitors showed a decent amount of fight with a few individual surprises from the likes of Kieran Powell who scored 80 odd, Guyanese Keemo Paul who scored a resurgent 47 in the first innings and bagged a few scalps, spinner Devendra Bishoo who snared 4 wickets and Roston Chase who battled for his half-century, stood out as the main performers.

A number of expectancies will be looming in the second Test as the likes of Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer, Sunil Ambris, Kraigg Brathwaite and Shane Dowrich will need to play more responsible innings this trip around. The Caribbean side will also want more out of their bowlers, who were lackluster in the first game with Holder and country-man Roach set to return to the side which will allow the Windies to reform their seam department along with Shannon Gabriel and Paul

Bishoo’s 4 overs went for more than 100 runs while a Kemar Roach and Jason Holder-less Windies bowling unit, toiled in the pace department. Recently Windies Captain Holder, who missed the first game due to recovering from an injury, said that his team was in India to win despite the pressure of playing in such a hard cricketing district. The all-rounder further pointed out that the aim was to abolish memories of the last game and perform better in the second Test. (Clifton Ross)