On Monday, India secured their sixth straight series victory in the West Indies after the second and final Test of their series finished in a tie. Play was unable to take place on the last day of the series due to rain, hence the series ended in a draw.
At the end of the fourth day of the series at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad, the West Indies were 76 for two with a daunting win goal of 365 to reach in order to tie the match.
When they reappeared in the afternoon with a greater intensity, the rains left the umpires with no choice but to call a halt to the day’s play, which meant the end of the Test match and the series as a whole. However, early showers put a stop to any hope of play taking place in the morning.
The “Player of the Match” award went to Mohammed Siraj, who had the greatest bowling numbers in a test with five wickets for 60 runs against the West Indies in their first innings. This performance paved the way for India to win on the fourth morning.
When Siraj was presented with the trophy, he noted, via a translator, that “there was no help for fast bowlers on this wicket,” and that “when you get success like this in these conditions, it gives you confidence.”
“I had straightforward ideas, and I just carried them out. The captain has only requested that I continue doing what I have been doing up to this point.
For Rohit Sharma, the team’s captain, the frustration of not being able to win a 2-0 clean sweep by pushing for victory on the last day was mitigated by the joy of watching this squad thrive despite the absence of important contributors in the bowling department.
“It was really pleasing to see how Siraj has led the attack in the absence of (Jasprit) Bumrah and (Mohammed) Shami,” he said. “It was really pleasing to see how Siraj has led the attack.”
We have been playing pretty well in the test matches, and I really hope that we can keep up this level of performance. It’s wonderful to see how everyone has been prepared to perform their part, such as when we required rapid runs the other day.
“A great deal of faith”
For Kraigg Brathwaite, the captain of a West Indies squad that last beat India in a Test match in May 2002, it was yet another instance of searching for positives in a sea of losses. The West Indies have not had much success against India in recent years.
After each unsuccessful campaign, the opening batter has been heard saying something along the lines of, “The key from here is obviously to be consistent,” which has become a common mantra.
“We will continue to work on our game, but it is encouraging to see the emergence of Alick (Athanaze) and Kirk (McKenzie) in the middle-order,” he said. “We are looking forward to the rest of the season.” These two young men, in my opinion, both have a lot of potential and represent the future. These two have a significant amount of my faith.
In just three days, India was able to win the first test match played in Dominica by a record-setting margin of triumph for them in the Caribbean, which was an innings and 141 runs.
Despite the fact that India would have been pleased with the 1-0 series victory, which would have added to their earlier victories in 2006, 2011, 2016, and 2019, they would have been dissatisfied with the fact that they did not have the opportunity to gain maximum points at the beginning of the new cycle of the World Test Championship.
Both sides are now adjusting their rosters in preparation for the white ball part of the trip, which will begin on Thursday at Kensington Oval in Barbados with the first of three One-Day Internationals. This will be followed by five Twenty20 Internationals, the final two of which will be played at Lauderhill in Florida, in the United States.