India vs West Indies: Visitors fight back, but India stay on top

New Delhi: West Indies’ John Campbell and Shai Hope continued to bring the fight to the Indians with exceptional centuries but the Indians packed far more ammunition and skill to stand on the verge of a hard-fought win in the second Test here on Monday.

Having rattled a seemingly overconfident India with pugnacious fifties on the third day, the duo carried on from where they left off at a slow Arun Jaitley Stadium with Campbell smashing a 199-ball 115 and Hope hitting a 214-ball 103. However, as soon as Campbell departed the third ball after the first drinks break following a rash reverse sweep that brought an end to the 177-run third-wicket stand, the floodgates opened. 

India went in for the kill, but their quest met with feisty resistance by the last wicket pairing of Justin Greaves (50 n.o.) and Jayden Seales (32). After the tea break, the hosts ended the doughty 79-run stand after tea that brought the West Indies’ admirable fightback to a conclusion at 390. That left the Indians with a 121-run target for a 2-0 sweep.

With 18 overs left to complete the job on the penultimate day itself, the question was whether India would go for it in T20 style or do it patiently without any bravado, considering a win was more important, especially with precious World Test Championship points up for grabs. 

Initially, it seemed like India were determined to pack the bags on Monday itself when Yashasvi Jaiswal came out all guns blazing, but when the opener departed for 8 after an attempted six landed into the hands of Anderson Phillip at long-on, KL Rahul and Sai Sudharsan opted for a safety-first approach as India took stumps at 63/1.   

Although the day didn’t end as per plans, the Indians were full of purpose at the start. Skipper Shubman Gill began with veteran spinner Ravindra Jadeja and pace ace Jasprit Bumrah, and both were right on the money. Jadeja kept things tight with his typical metronomic bowling, while Bumrah, getting the old ball to reverse swing, created chances almost every over he bowled despite the pitch remaining flat and offering hardly any help. It was just genius bowling from one of the premier fast bowlers in the world.  

Like Sunday though, luck remained elusive for the Indians, and Campbell and Hope rode on the good fortune. They didn’t let the half-chances or DRS reviews affect them, nicely taking the singles on offer because of the spread-out field and release of pressure with odd big shots. Together, Campbell and Hope negated the opening hour without any damage.

Frustration had begun to creep in when former captain and senior player Rahul took over from Gill to give the team a pep talk during the first drinks break. The motivational speech bore instant results as Jadeja dismissed Campbell with the third ball after the interval. It was the adrenaline shot the desperate Indians needed. Hope, though, continued to fight on along with skipper Roston Chase, West Indies taking lunch at 252/3.

The break, again and a ball change did wonders for India as Mohammed Siraj castled Hope’s stumps with his wobbled-seam delivery. From 271/4, West Indies slipped to 311/9 and an early finish looked imminent. Greaves and Seales, however, kept the flickering flame from getting extinguished with a gritty partnership. Like Campbell and Hope, they mixed caution with aggression to keep delaying the inevitable. Fatigue also started to show up on the Indian bowlers who had been out on the field since the second afternoon. Greaves and Seales sensed that and batted responsibly. India needed a moment of magic to snap the stand and Bumrah provided that with his third wicket of the innings. Time for the batters to finish it on Tuesday.