West Indies gave a better account of themselves in this second Test match in New Delhi. But still they fell short against a much stronger Indian side. India will be happy to get the win, but there were positives for the West Indies. But as is the case, there were areas where they lagged behind and fell short of their potential in this game. Here, we will list three reasons for West Indies’ loss against India.
Inability to stop Yashasvi Jaiswal in first innings hurts West Indies
Yashasvi Jaiswal came out all guns blazing in the first innings. He took his time initially and then cashed in after playing himself in and went onto score a daddy hundred. He was superb and was a treat to watch. But it seemed that West Indies lacked planning against the southpaw and could not contain or dismiss him at all. That was surprising to see and it aided India, but hampered the visitors a lot.
Jaiswal took advantage of the situation and never looked like getting out. He scored all these runs without even breaking a sweat. No West Indies bowler looked threatening against him and it was easy pickings for Jaiswal after he got himself in. He dominated Day 1 and the only way Jaiswal could have gotten out is a run out and that is what exactly happened in this game where a mix-up with Gill ended Jaiswal’s stay at the crease. But West Indies did not have any plans to dismiss him.
Looking ahead to future series, West Indies needs to be more incisive in their bowling and build plans for the batters that are the main batters. They need to be more lethal and ruthless in their approach in order to succeed at this level. They have improved their performance by leaps and bounds from the first Test, but have a long way to go to be a competitive Test side.
Lack of support for Jomel Warrican in first innings hurts West Indies
When West Indies came onto bowl in the first innings, it was a hard toil for most bowlers. But only one bowler stood up and that was Jomel Warrican. He bowled well and bowled his heart out and picked up 3 wickets for 98 runs in 34 overs. He tried his best to stop the strong Indian team from one end. But he lacked support from the other bowlers especially the spinners.
Yes, Roston Chase got a wicket to his name plus there was a run out of Jaiswal. But there were no wickets for the others. The other spinners, the back-up to Warrican were not at their best and that hurt West Indies. Roston Chase one felt was a reluctant bowler. Kharry Pierre lacked penetration and was wicketless. He was also unimpressive to say the least. Even the pace bowlers were wicketless which compounded the problems. To concede 500+ runs and get 5 wickets out of which none for the pacers meant West Indies were chasing leather for most part of the game.
Going forward, West Indies needs to plan better against the Indian batters and need support for the bowler who is in form. One needs to hunt in pair and not rely on individual brilliance in order to succeed in Test cricket. One person cannot run through the opposition and always needs to hunt in pair. Look at India, wickets were shared amongst the bowlers which West Indies lacked. This is one area that West Indies needs to work on going ahead.
Losing 5/18 in the second innings seals the fate for West Indies
West Indies gave a much better account of themselves in this Test match with bat in hand. In the first innings, they battled their way to 248 and was asked to follow-on with a deficit of 270 runs. Following on, West Indies batted really well with John Campbell and Shai Hope making centuries as West Indies wiped off the deficit and were 293/4 at one stage and India looked worried. But then the collapse happened.
Tevin Imlach fell and so did Roston Chase and Khary Pierre to Kuldeep Yadav before Warrican and Anderson Phillip too fell as West Indies went from 293/4 to 311/9 to completely lose the plot in the end. Yes, the 79-run last wicket stand propelled West Indies to 391 and a target of 121 which India chased down with 7 wickets in hand. But this was the collapse that happened in the afternoon session of Day 4 that really hurt West Indies a lot. Had there not been a collapse, maybe West Indies would have gotten a better lead. But that was not to be.
West Indies needs to improve their game awareness and not give their wickets away in clusters. One cannot afford to have a collapse like this against a strong side like India. But the West Indies will learn and be better off with the experience and come back stronger in the upcoming games. But these collapses keep happening in Test cricket and cannot be repeated all the time. West Indies will know and learn from this for sure.
Also Read: IND vs WI: John Campbell & Shai Hope Fight To Stay Alive In Test Match