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- Updated: August 9, 2016
Tea India 130 for 5 (Ashwin 23*, Saha 1*, Chase 2-15, Joseph 2-20) v West Indies Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Moral victories and psychology can be terms abused in cricket, but the Jamaica draw might have caused damage in Indian heads that might have played a part in leaving them in tatters at tea on day one of the third Test. West Indies won the toss and utilised the conditions efficiently without being sensational, but India have helped them out by leaving out two of their more solid batsmen suited to these conditions, M Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara, ostensibly in search of quicker runs to get results.
Having survived the Jamaica Test, West Indies mounted a fresh challenge against this unsteady Indian batting line-up – a different top-three in each Test – by taking wickets when the pitch was fresh and then choking India out with disciplined bowling. KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane, the only specialist batsmen to reach double figures, helped India recover from 19 for 2, but fell in soft manner just before the two session breaks, Rahane to a full toss to end his slowest Test innings of 10 or more.
The second of the wickets, though, was the highlight of the day. Debutant Alzarri Joseph nicked out Virat Kohli, who had promoted himself in the order because of the selection of Rohit Sharma ahead of Pujara. West Indies’ resistance, and the resultant draw in Jamaica led to three changes for India, two of them expected – Ravindra Jadeja, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in for Amit Mishra.
The batting selections were instructive. At the toss, Kohli, who would have batted if he had won the toss anyway, emphasised that Rohit, Pujara’s replacement, can change a match in a session. Both Vijay and Pujara are reputed to be slow scorers. Turns out India might have misread the pitch or underestimated the attack: the situation asked for the patience of Vijay and Pujara. Moreover, Kohli and Rahane had to give up their familiar batting positions to accommodate Rohit.
West …
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