The 2nd Test between India and West Indies will be the 100th Test between them. It is one of the great achievements in Test cricket. India already won the 1st Test and led the series by 1-0. India’s debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal shows promising innings in the 1st Test. The other debutant Ruturaj Gaikwad is also considered to be in playing 11 in the 2nd Test.
Captain Rohit Sharma also shared some thoughts regarding the 100th match and some more inside details.
Regarding the 100th Test match,
“It’s a great history between both of the teams. They were playing before I was born. It’s an honour to be taking the Indian Team into this game. It’s a historic game. To be part of such a game does not happen everyday. I am fortunate to be playing this game.”
About the present situation of West Indies Cricket,
“Until I know the inside,I can’t tell the actual problem. I have played with many great West Indies players and they are extremely good players. I feel that if there were more spinners playing the 1st Test it might create a threat to us, because it has a good turn and bounce. I don’t know the inside scene of the West Indies. Whenever we play against them, we don’t think about what is going on with them. We came here to play and took positives from the game.”
On Transition phase in Indian Cricket,
“We are happy about the new players who came and performed well. We do have a huge responsibility to give them a role clarity, how to play and what we want from them, these things must be told to them. All these are now fully dependent upon each individual. As you can see these players have huge talent and I am pretty sure that the young players will take the Indian Team to greater heights in coming years.”
About Ishan Kishan debut against West Indies,
“Look, Ishan is a very talented guy. We have seen him in the short career that he has played for India. Recently he played a knock of 200 runs in limited overs. So he is a talented player and we should give him a chance so that he can show his skills and class. He is a left handed batsman and likes to play aggressive cricket. I told him how he should play and I give full freedom to play in his own style.
….His wicket-keeping skills are damn good. In the 1st test against Ashwin and Jadeja where balls were touring and bouncing and some the balls were low, I was very impressed by his keeping skills. And I am pretty sure that if he gets into bat he is ready to go.”
Sad on getting out in the 1st Test,
“Obviously when you got out you were disappointed. In my last innings I was disappointed because I was batting well, can easily concentrate for a longer time but unfortunately gets out there. I was disappointed as I had the opportunity to score big. I was sad but later on I was not because I had already been dismissed and now I couldn’t do anything about it. Now my focus is on playing good cricket in upcoming matches.”
Playing 11 in the 2nd Test,
“We saw the pitch and we still don’t have any clarity since rain might come and we have a discussion about this. I don’t think that might be a drastic change. But we will keep in mind what the weather conditions will be and we will then decide for the 5 days match.”