After his maiden 5 wicket haul in the same Test, he had followed it up with an improbable hundred.
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With 140 runs in his 5 Tests so far, at an average of 14, the worst for any West Indies opener who has played 10 or more innings, the West Indies selectors have run out of patience with the 26-year-old and have chose to give Hope another shot at the worldwide level.
Kingston: Describing Mohammed Shami as an “important cog in our wheel”, India head coach Anil Kumble has expressed that he is pleased with the paceman’s progress since his Test return in the ongoing series against the West Indies. We got a really good partnership between Jermaine Blackwood and Roston Chase at the beginning of the day, and that set it up for us.
“They really stood up to the challenge and we should be proud of this kind of performance”.
However, they rebounded strongly in the second Test here to pull off a draw, batting the entire final day to amass 388 for six, when they seemed poised to slide to another innings defeat. The West Indies’ skipper credited his bowlers for the manner in which they bowled and improved from the Antigua Test.
Rain playing spoilsport: The weather forecast showed chances of rain on Day 4 and that is exactly what happened. He looked to attack when needed to and blocked literally every ball. “It’s something that we also have to sit down and analyze as to how we’re going to get the last five wickets because in this series they have certainly contributed”, he added.
“If you watch Blackwood play in Test cricket, he is a free-scoring player who likes to hit the ball over the top of the fast bowlers and likes to keep the scoreboard moving”.
The Windies have made no other changes in the 14-man squad from the second test.
“Kumble admitted that overcast conditions on the fourth day helped the seamers get more swing”. Yes, you strategise slightly differently.
This was the first time in 9 days of cricket between the two teams in the Test series that the home team looked to put in a fight. They had started the day struggling at 48/4, still 256 runs behind. You have times when the opposition puts up a fearless challenge. So it was quite hard to get the purchase that we were getting yesterday and the conditions were different as well.
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“It was cloudy, there was some rain about and there was a lot more swing yesterday. After that, I just came out and maintained the focus, and made sure that I was there at the end”, he added. “I think he feels a lot stronger now and his rhythm has been good”.
