India outplayed the West Indies in all departments of the game in the first Test. They will hope for a similar show in the second clash of the four-match series as well. The home team, on the other hand, will come down hard at India in the second Test at Sabina Park in Kingston, scheduled to start on Saturday.
West Indies might have learnt a lesson or two from the first Test, including the serious need to dismiss Virat Kohli early, and also not allow Ravichandran Ashwin to weave his magic with the ball. The two players played an instrumental role in helping India win the first Test match.
India are not expected to make major changes in the team that won the last game. Kohli is set to play with five bowlers once again, but it remains to be seen if KL Rahul or Rohit Sharma will be included at the expense of Cheteshwar Pujara, who failed in the first Test. But West Indies are set to make some changes, and one name, which has been doing the rounds, is the uncapped youngster, Alzarri Joseph, who is known to bowl at a raw pace. The fast bowler has recently been included for the second Test.
After witnessing Kohli canter to his double ton, and a wonderful century from off-spinner Ashwin, West Indies might have been forced to bring this pacer, strengthening their bowling attack. Captain Jason Holder will expect his fast bowler to rattle India batsmen with his pace, which might not be too easy. To make batting a tad difficult, a green pitch could be seen prepared for the second Test.
However, such pitches could backfire for West Indies if the India batsmen, once again, pile up a huge first innings score. India have some excellent pacers like Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav, who can all bend their back and get good purchase from the pitch.
West Indies, if they are to come back and draw the series level, will need all their players to fire as a unit. More importantly, their batsmen need to score some big runs to challenge India else their bowlers will not be able to put pressure on the India batsmen.
West Indies only scored 243 and 231 runs, respectively, in the first and second innings. The home batsmen will have to apply themselves more at the crease, and make sure that they convert their starts into meaningful scores. West Indies lost wickets at regular intervals in the first Test, which was a problem.
Irrespective of the pitch and the players, who will represent both the teams in the second Test match, it is consistency, which will matter most. The team, whose batsmen and bowlers show greater consistency over the five days, will have a huge chance of winning the Test in Kingston.
India vs West Indies second Test schedule
Date: July 30 – Aug. 3
Time: 8.30 p.m. IST (10 a.m. local time, 4 p.m. BST).
Venue: Sabina Park in Kingston.
TV listings: India: Ten 3 and Ten 1 HD. UK: Sky Sports 5. Australia: Fox Sports 5. South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa: SuperSport. USA: Willow TV.
