By: Sandipan Bose
It was inevitable from the time the Indian team landed in the West Indies that they would eventually emerge victorious in the Test series over the hosts.
Virat Kohli’s men did what was expected of them by crushing the inconsistent West Indies by 237 runs in the 3rd Test match and seal the Test series at Gros Islet.
With two Test wins and one more match to go, India would be looking to finish the Test series on a 3-0 verdict.
It seems clear to every cricket follower that this superlative performance of the Indian team would not have been possible without a superb team effort. Right from top to bottom, everyone contributed in the series win.
Even the two cricketers, Amit Mishra and Umesh Yadav, who were dropped from the playing XI on the basis of not-so-consistent forms also contributed to the win in the 1st Test.
In the opening Test in Antigua, Umesh bowled a superb first innings spell to claim four wickets. Even Mishra scored runs and also took wickets. But the pressure of benching in-form players like Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ravindra Jadeja was mounting high on the team management.
Even Kohli showed the willingness to shake up the playing XI in name of flexibility. The team wanted to bring in more variety after the West Indies forced a draw in the 2nd Test in Jamaica.
With change being the only constant thing Kohli also got some great support from his team and was perhaps ruthless by dropping Mishra and Yadav.
It was also perhaps on the cards to make Bhuvneshwar and Jadeja play the 3rd Test after they proved a point. Earlier, both of them showed great skill-set in the warm-up matches in the West Indies to stake their claims.
Even Cheteshwar Pujara had to pay the price for not playing an impact knock in first two Tests in the West Indies. Kohli’s horses for courses approach helped India to gain a big advantage over the out-of-place West Indies.
Not that Pujara’s replacement Rohit Sharma was a big star of the match, but he scored a crucial 41 in the second innings to put the home team on a mat.
With two man-of-the-match awards, there is no words to describe Ravichandran Ashwin’s success rate as an all-rounder. Even Kohli set the tone of the series after a superb hundred.
He is ably supported by his deputy Ajinkya Rahane. Wriddhaman Saha too did well as an all-rounder. The pace department was ably managed by Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami.
The inclusion of Bhuvneshwar and Jadeja only made things better for the Indian bowling attack that helped the visitors to take those twenty wickets. Clearly, India are looking to win every time they take the field!
