It appeared the umpires were initially checking whether the ball carried to wicketkeeper Dowrich, and replays suggested the catch was taken well above ground. In one of the slowest innings of his career, Cheteshwar Pujara took 159 balls for his 46. Kohli’s innings had four boundaries and a six.
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Another centurion from the first Test, Ravichandran Ashwin (3) was the next to go, leg before to Bishoo.
Lavishing praise on his bowlers for their disciplined show on day two, West Indies’ coach Phil Simmons said they would now look to get the remaining Indian wickets and urged the batsmen to step up to help them bounce back in the second cricket Test. India now lead by 63 runs after bowling out the hosts for just 196 in their first innings.
The morning session was only the second wicket-less session of the series.
“Those were the challenges but once I got a few runs under my belt, and once I spent a little time on the wicket, I felt comfortable”.
The 200-mark for India came up in the 70th over, and the duo celebrated their 100-stand for the 2nd wicket off 283 balls. Despite needing treatment for cramps a couple of times, Rahul kept going, his romance with batting powering his hunger to make the most of the combination of opportunity and good form. The previous highest by an India opener in his first Test innings in West Indies was 96 by Ajay Jadeja in 1996-97.
Lokesh Rahul then made the most of his inclusion in the final 11 in place of the injured Murali Vijay, reaching an unbeaten 75 as India closed the first day at 126 for one in reply.
The hosts were mauled by an innings and 92 runs in the first match which ended on the fourth day at the Sir Viv Richards stadium in Antigua. Pujara’s batting put most of the people to sleep very early on Sunday ensuring they were well rested and raring to go on Monday morning, traditionally the day when employee motivation is lowest. After failing to impress on his Test debut, Rahul made amends in his second outing in whites against Australia with a ton in Sydney.
Gabriel, in particular, tested both Rahul and Pujara, thrice inducing edges as they fell short of the waiting cordon. On three other occasions, he beat the batsmen with his pace and bounce.
“We weren’t in any hurry to score runs”. However, Kohli’s involvement could bring a mental fatigue in the years to come.
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At the end of Day 2, India looks in a strong position to pick up another victory over inexperienced West Indian Team. Chase threw down the stumps at the non-striker’s end, Pujara threw himself towards the crease, but was caught short. Jason Holder (0-49) was the other bowler tried.
