West Indies keep faith with batting lineup for second Test against India

Kingston: West Indies’ selectors have kept faith with the batting lineup that was skittled for 100 runs in a lopsided first Test against India in the Caribbean on Sunday.

Only one player has been omitted for the second Test. Hosts have replaced fast bowler Miguel Cummins with all-rounder Keemo Paul in the 13-man squad. The second Test starts in Kingston on Friday.

Paul, who was forced to sit out the first Test due to an ankle injury, but has recovered and is available for selection, Cricket West Indies said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Shane Dowrich has returned to Barbados to continue his rehabilitation after being ruled out of the series with ankle injury.

At Kingston, Windies will have the chance not only to win the second Test to draw the series, but also the opportunity to claim 60 points for a win or to claim their first points in the World Test Championship.

India won the first Test by 318 runs, with West Indies dismissed for 222 in the first innings before making only 100 in their second knock.

West Indies’ top order was especially disappointing. Openers Kraigg Brathwaite (14 and 1) and John Campbell (23 and 7) went cheaply, while numbers three and four Shamarh Brooks (11 and 2) and Darren Bravo (18 and 2) did not contribute much either.

Meanwhile, former India batsman VVS Laxman has said that Test deputy Ajinkya Rahane’s reaction after scoring a century in the first Test showed just how much it meant to him. It was a century after 17 Tests for the middle-order batsman.

“He must have felt some pressure after not having scored a Test hundred in more than two years.

“Even though he had the backing of the selectors and the team management, the vice-captain would have been desperate to leave his mark, and his reaction upon reaching three figures on Sunday showed just how much this century meant to him,” Laxman wrote in his column for Times of India.

Agencies