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Ashwin, Saha rescue India on testing day
- Updated: August 9, 2016
India 234 for 5 (Ashwin 75*, Rahul 50, Joseph 2-38) v West Indies Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
On a day that India made questionable selections, one of the management’s moves, the promotion of R Ashwin as an allrounder, rescued them from 126 for 5. In testing conditions India left out Cheteshwar Pujara and M Vijay in favour of Rohit Sharma, and to accommodate him the batting order had to be rejigged.
While this apparent push for quick runs resulted in a batting failure, West Indies were not behind in making unusual moves. There was more purpose to their attack, after putting India in, than in the first two Tests. But when they should have looked to finish things off, they opted for the patience route, which cut down the runs thanks to a slow outfield. The wickets, though, came only through the batsmen’s impatience. KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane threw away starts with impatient shots, but Ashwin – dropped on 26 and caught off a no-ball on 35 – and Wriddhiman Saha soldiered on to keep India from imploding.
Ashwin and Saha, 46 off 122, added an unbeaten 108 for the sixth wicket. Another lower-order contribution was a continuation of a trend for India: on tough pitches in the home season, they recovered from 139 for 6 in Delhi, 125 for 6 in Nagpur, and 102 for 5 in Mohali.
The big comeback, though, was that of West Indies in the series. For the first eight days of the series they were pretty much outplayed. 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 in St Lucia. West Indies won the toss and utilised the conditions efficiently without being sensational, but India helped them out with their selections.
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 was the highlight. Debutant Alzarri Joseph, who impressed with his pace and his bowling mechanics in only his ninth first-class match, …
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