The disciplined application, coupled with attacking strokeplay by West Indies youthful batsmen Adrian Barath, Kraig Brathwaite, Kirk Edwards and Darren Bravo provided hope for the future and brought immense pleasure and joy while they thwart the powerful India team in their quest to regain the number one Test ranking. Having lost the first two Test matches by five wickets at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium (Delhi) followed by an innings and 15 runs at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata last Saturday; West Indies team entered the Third and final Test being played at the refurbished Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai under pressure to avert a series “brownwash” in the three-match Test series.
West Indies started the match without their most experienced and dependable batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul who sustained a strained calf muscle in the Second Test. The 37-year-old Guyanese was incapacitated and despite rehab efforts to get him fit for the match, he was declared unfit for the five-day rigours.
He has been the inspirational figure among the batsmen and his omission must have raised concern among members of the West Indies team while it would have given greater energy for the opposing bowlers knowing fully-well that they would not have to bowl to the most immovable force in Test cricket arena.
With Chanderpaul’s inability to play, India’s captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and their senior selectors also took a huge gamble of resting their most impressive fast bowler Umesh Yadav and gave newcomer Aaron his first Test outing. Yadav’s genuine pace and seam movement were responsible for India’s series victory and the Man-of-the-Match award at the Eden Gardens.
West Indies youthful opening pair of 21-year-old Barath and 18-year-old Braithwaite rose to the occasion and laid the platform for a huge first innings total when they posted 137 runs for the first wicket stand on an even-paced pitch that did not facilitate any extra bounce and seaming deliveries from new-ball bowlers Ishant Sharma and Vern Aaron.
Even left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin did not trouble the two youngsters who featured in their first century partnership, which is the first for West Indies in the last two years.
The 137-run opening partnership becomes the eighth highest first-wicket stand against India and fifth for West Indies in India.
The top four batsmen Barath (62), Brathwaite (68), Edwards (65 not out) and Bravo (57 not out) with fifty or more in their innings also created history by becoming the third set of top frontline West Indian batsmen to register 50 or more in the same Test innings.
Incidentally, the first set of batsmen to establish that record were Allan Rae (104), Jeffrey Stollmeyer (66), Clyde Walcott (68) and Everton Weekes (194) for West Indies against India at the Brabourne Stadium which is not too far away in the City of Mumbai in 1948 (December 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13).
Yesterday, West Indies reached 267 for 2 at the close of play with Edwards and Bravo to resume and push for the triple-figure mark. It is good to note that West Indies were in a similar position at the end of the first day in the 1948 Test after Rae and Stollmeyer set the foundation with an opening partnership worth 134. They were 252 for 2 with Walcott and Weekes the not-out batsmen on 26 and 47 respectively. While Walcott fell for 68, his redoubtable Barbadian went on to score a magnificent 194.
For the records, Guyanese wicketkeeper Robert Christiani made 74 and FF Cameron 75 not out as West Indies declared at 629 for 6 with six batsmen getting fifty or more in the same innings. India replied with 243 and 333 for three (Rusi Modi 112 and skipper Lala Amarnath 134 not out). It was the Second Test and it ended in a draw.
Clive Lloyd’s 1976 team was the other team that had achieved the feat of the top four with fifty or more in the same innings and won the Fourth Test against England at Leeds in 1976.
Guyanese pugnacious Roy Fredericks (109) and Barbadian Gordon Greenidge (115) pulverised the English bowlers and posted 192 for the first wicket. Vivian Richards scored 66 while Lawrence Rowe contributed 50 as West Indies totalled 450 in the first innings. Skipper Tony Greig and Alan Knott made an identical 116 while England amassed 387 in their first innings.
Surprisingly, only Collis King who made 58, got beyond the 50-run mark in the second innings as WI folded for 196 with Bob Willis (5 for 42) being their chief destroyer.
WI pacers Andy Roberts (18-3-41-3), Michael Holding (14-1-44-3) and Wayne Daniel (13-0-60-3) combined to devastate the Englishmen and knocked them over for 204 (Greig 76*), thus allowing Lloyd’s team to celebrate victory by 55 runs and the series by a 2-0 margin.
Edwards and Bravo have already stamped their class against the Indian bowlers with a century each in the series and all West Indian supporters would be hoping that they can push on to the coveted triple-figure mark and establish a big first innings total to allow Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul and Devendra Bishoo and others to have the freedom of bowling to attacking field placements against the highly-vaunted Indian batting line-up that has been bolstered with the inclusion of the talented Virat Kohli at number six, in place of Yuvraj Singh.
Both Edwards and Bravo played some delightful shots and thrived on the easy-paced pitch which should be easier for batting on the second day. Judging from the manner of poise and confidence with which Edwards and Bravo played, there is every indication that with the little bit of luck coming their way, they can put West Indies in the driver’s seat.
As I mentioned in my previous feature which appeared last Sunday, I was pleased with the performances of Barath, Edwards and Bravo in the Second Test.
And it is not surprising that they continue to chalk up decent scores as they enhanced their budding reputation as the future stars of West Indies cricket.
Brathwaite and Chanderpaul had featured in a century-partnership in the First Test and it was heart-warming to see both Barath and the young Barbadian teenager getting the understanding and chemistry together at the top of the order. West Indies need their output and a long-lasting partnership at the top of the order.
From all indications, this match could become a high-scoring affair unless there is a dramatic turn of events on the remaining four days.