India vs West Indies: Ravichandran Ashwin, KL Rahul ensure team keeps its foot firmly on Windies throat

If the series between India and West Indies in the beautiful setting of the Carribean Islands was a Tamil movie, Ravichandran Ashwin would be playing Rajnikanth. There is absolutely nothing he can do wrong at the moment. As if to make matters worse, the Windies seem to have invited his wrath by opting to bat on an errant Sabina Park surface that was behaving like a scratched record in the morning session. Ashwin made merry, teasing out five wickets as the hosts were wiped out for just 196 runs. With the conditions far better, the pitch far truer, KL Rahul made the most of it towards the end of the day to ensure India kept its heavy foot firmly on the Windies throat. The 24 year old from Bengaluru made an aggressive 75 off 114 balls to carry the team to 126-1 by stumps on the first day of the second test match. [caption id=“attachment_2925744” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Ravichandran Ashwin celebrates taking Marlon Samuels’ wicket. AP[/caption] Ishant Sharma got the procession going, nearly dictating his intent to KC Brathwaite. The Windies opener should have known the menu, the moment India placed two fielders around short leg. Brathwaite played straight into the trap, fending at one that came into the ribs and Cheteshwar Pujara did the rest with finesse. If Ashwin were Rajnikanth, Darren Bravo seems to have accepted a bit role in the villain’s backyard. He managed to eke out double figures off a couple (11, 10) of scratchy performances in the first test, but lasted just one ball in Kingston. Bravo hung his bat at one that angled away from Ishant, bowling from around the wicket, for Virat Kohli to bucket it in the second slip. At 4-2, there was enough evidence to suggest that this young collection of calypsos were perhaps more in tune with the beats of the Carribean Premier League than with the demands of test match cricket. India on the other hand seemed to be working to a plan and pulling it off too, with barely any resistance from the hosts, who are clearly lacking the temperament and nous needed for the long form of this beautiful game. Rajendra Chandrika made matters worse, playing as Bravo did, at a ball that was way outside off stump. Rahul snapped up a sharp chance at gully to sink the Windies into a deep hole at 7-3. Marlon Samuels and Jermaine Blackwood worked hard to navigate their team out of the darkness, but lacked both the luck and discipline that was needed to complete the task. Blackwood made a commendable counter attacking fifty, priceless both to the team and himself. He was coming off a second pair in five tests, his place in the team under question inside team meetings. Blackwood made a rapid run-a-ball 62, in an 81 run partnership with Samuels, but the hosts needed far more than a blitz. The 24 year old Jamaican was a tad unfortunate to be adjudged LBW, but Samuels had no one but himself to blame for adding to the misery of his team. He should have been content with playing the over out, having taken a six off Ashwin. But Samuels half walked into an intelligent Ashwin’s classic trap. The 29 year old bowler, unaffected by the six before, looped one slightly higher and Samuels committed himself to the front foot. But soon as he did that, the ball started to dip sharply, leaving the seasoned batsman farther from the landing spot than he should have been. There was just enough space for the ball to turn, tease an inside edge for a catch at forward short leg. Ashwin is a keen student of the game. He must have felt like a scholar who found empirical evidence on the first attempt with an experiment in his laboratory. At 115-5, any real chance of a determined rearguard rested on the shoulders of Roston Chase and Shane Dowrich. But the procession that preceded their arrival shook their confidence and left their minds reeling in uncertainty. Dowrich was a victim of his mind traveling in two directions. He started to leave a delivery that pitched short of a length, outside the off stump, before committing his bat to fend the turn. It was the sort of hesitant play that spinners hunt for and Wriddhiman Saha did the rest behind the stumps. It was just a matter of time before India completed the rites. To their credit the tail did all they could to extend the score, but it was a case of too little too late. The last four batsmen contributed 64 runs, nearly a third of the team’s total. After taking no wicket in the first innings at Antigua, Ashwin now has twelve from two innings. His sixteen over spell with returns of 5-52 was a classic account of spin bowling under test match conditions. Ishant and Mohammed Shami played ideal foil as India took control of the match. Shikhar Dhawan fell victim to his own brazen ways, playing a drive away from his body without keeping the ball down. That was really the only blip on another day of dominance for the visitors. Rahul, 75* and Pujara, 18* will look to lay the foundation for a strong first innings for India. If India’s well laid plans work, as they have on the first day, the team may have to bat just once for a second time running.