APART from India’s Ravichandran Ashwin’s double-act and Pragyan Ojha’s clever spin bowling which gave India a chance to register a series sweep, it was Darren Bravo’s batting brilliance combined with Ravi Rampaul and Devendra Bishoo lion-hearted bowling heroics that allowed West Indies to avoid defeat in the Third Test which concluded at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai yesterday. The high-scoring first innings by both teams paled into insignificance with the dramatic turn of events on the fifth and final day, where a total of 17 batsmen were dismissed and both teams were still in the hunt for a sensational victory before the final over was delivered by West Indian pacer Fidel Edwards.
With two wickets still intact, India required four runs to win off six legitimate balls while West Indies needed to scalp the wickets or restrict the opposition to less than the required runs to fashion a drawn match.
Ashwin spurned the opportunity of sealing a sensational victory by being too cautious off the first three deliveries and then ambled through for one run off the final ball that was stroked to the deep mid-on position.
Substitute Dinesh Ramdin’s throw from the deep mid-on to wicketkeeper Baugh caught Ashwin stranded by a big margin and the climactic finish ended in a drawn affair, the second such occurrence in Test match history.
There was joy and relief for the West Indies team which had blown another wonderful opportunity of putting India under heavy pressure and securing victory on a pitch that proved to be a batting paradise, until the final when the spinners mesmerised their inept batting display in the second innings saw them shot out for a meagre 132.
West Indies second-innings demise to India’s new spin-twins of Ojha (6 for 48) and Ashwin (4 for 34) exposes their mental vulnerability and lack of determination to grasp full advantage against opponents whose powerful batting line-up can also succumb to pressure when in seemingly impregnable positions.
At the end of all the drama and fluctuating fortunes, the scores of both teams remained level with India still having their two wickets intact.
It was a thrilling draw and West Indies averted a series “brownwash”. For the West Indies team, the result was celebrated as if a victory was recorded. The final scores were: West Indies 590 and 134, India 482 and 242 for 9 off 64 overs.
Darren Sammy’s team provided all the roller-coaster complexities that can be experienced during a two-innings match contested over five days on a docile pitch that behaved differently on the final day when the spinners extracted some extra bounce and turn and made viewing a compelling spectacle, as batsmen compounded their desire to succeed with woeful and unforgivable stroke selection.
Apart from Bravo’s superlative batting display which saw him emerge as the topscorer in both innings (166 and 48) and an exciting player with immense talent and ability to become one of the game’s greatest, the other batsmen especially Kirk Edwards on the fourth day and Marlon Samuels, Sammy and Carlton Baugh were guilty of terrible lapses and showed that they will have to work very hard on their technique and concentration span to cope with the demands of international cricket.
Reading the game and inculcating the right attitude to become versatile and adaptable to the various situations and pitch conditions are paramount for their maturity.
From what we have seen over the years that they have been playing at the higher levels, I am not sure all of them have displayed the right aptitude, discipline, yearning and conscientious efforts to fulfil those high aspirations.
Their talent sparkles periodically but there is a lack of conviction and willpower to accomplish the high goals set by themselves and expectations of those whom they represent.
Frequent and miserable failure with the bat and fallen standards of glovework after his outstanding performance in India’s first innings of the first Test would have put Baugh’s tenure and position in the Regional Test team in jeopardy.
Edwards can be forgiven, but Samuels’ dismissal raises the dreaded question mark although he made up with his bowling by prising out two key wickets in Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, both of whom were guilty of playing too far away from the body and flicking the ball that had that extra bounce out of the rough spots outside the offstump.
At the end of the penultimate day, West Indies enjoyed a comfortable lead of 189 after they reached 81 for 2 in their second innings, following their 108-run lead after they had dismissed India for 482 in reply to their mammoth first-innings score of 590.
Kraigg Brathwaite (34 not out) and Darren Bravo (27 not out) resumed the fifth day with a distinct possibility of playing for a draw.
But Braithwaite added only one more to his overnight total and the WI resolve seemed to have been broken as soon as Bravo was dismissed for 48, caught and bowled by Ojha who together with Ashwin dismantled the rest of the batting order as the last seven WI wickets were dislodged for an addition of 22 runs. It is not the first time we had seen such shocking capitulation by the WI team.
In India’s first innings, Gautam Gambhir (55), Rahul Dravid (86), Sachin Tendulkar (94), Virat Kohli (54) and Ashwin (103) were the batting heroes but it took a valiant 97-run seventh-wicket partnership between Kohli and Ashwin to force West Indies to bat a second time.
While all commentators and players were bemoaning the placid nature of the Wankhede pitch which aided the batsmen in their quest for huge scores, the dismissals of 17 wickets on the final day proved that the track still had something for those bowlers who were willing to work hard at their craft.
TV commentator Sunil Gavaskar even did something unexpected but yet provided laughter during his pitch report. Before the start of the day’s play, he knelt and put his left ear to the pitch. Rising to his feet, he declared that the pitch was dead, real dead and that the funeral will be at 16:30hrs.
That prognostication was completely wrong and it was the much-vaunted Indian team who were battling gamely to save themselves from an embarrassing defeat, just as much as the West Indians were locked in the same mission to stave off defeat and register an unlikely victory. That was as remote as the Sahara desert enjoying an oasis of greenery during the severest drought.
It was a complete turnaround of fortunes and it was heroism and determined efforts of Rampaul and leg-spinner Bishoo, who bowled his heart out despite a troubled right leg that affected his overall performances.
Bishoo made the initial breakthrough when India seemed to be motoring to victory. He outfoxed Sehwag who attempted a naughty reverse chop-shot and offered a simple lobbed catch to Sammy at leg slip. He was forced off the field, limping and favouring his right leg. He got treatment and returned to scalp Virat Kohli for 63 and change the momentum of the game in favour of West Indies.
Rampaul, who had picked up the wickets of Gambhir, centurion Ashwin and icon Tendulkar in the first innings (3 for 95), kept charging in and banging the ball on just the right lengths to remove VVS Laxman and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni when the score was 189 for 6, with still 54 runs required for victory and a series sweep.
Ashwin and Ishant Sharma offered stern resistance and batted sensibly. But just when it seemed that they were taking India to victory, Rampaul castled the stumps of Sharma (10) with a full-length in-swinging delivery to leave the match interesting poised for the nail-biting finish.