KINGSTON: After being on the back-foot for four days, West Indies salvaged a draw—thanks to fantastic batting display by Roston Chase, who went on to score a century, and half centuries from Jermaine Blackwood and Shane Dowrich – in the second Test match of the four-match series.
However, India coach Anil Kumble took it on his chin and said, “If everything happened just how we thought it would, life would be very easy.”
According to a report in The Hindustan Times, Kumble said, “In the morning we were keen to win the Test and were confident we could. At tea when they were 15 ahead, and there were 30 overs left, we still felt we could win. The approach that we want to win does not change at any stage. When you bowl on the last day trying to win a match and get only two wickets bowling almost 90 overs, you will learn things. We will sit and talk about this.”
Meanwhile, Kumble praised rookie Roston Chase's match-saving century but also lamented that losing more than 100 overs of bowling time also enabled the hosts to play out a draw in the second Test, says a report in The Times of India.
"Obviously, we wanted to win this Test match. Yesterday, we were in a very good position and credit to the West Indies batsmen, the way they batted," said Kumble after the match ended in a draw.
"Yesterday, time was very crucial for us because we were in great momentum and the conditions were such that it could have been different if we had probably bowled more. There was loss of play, more than 100 overs were lost in this Test match. So all those factors mattered. In the end, credit to the West Indian batsmen in terms of how they batted today and their application as well," he added.
According to a report in the Deccan Chronicle, talking about Chase in particular, the former Indian captain said, "It is creditable for someone playing in his second Test match, to be able to bat through the day and save the game for his team. Chase's approach today was very good. He looked to attack when needed to and blocked literally every ball. So he kept our bowlers at bay, which was obviously disappointing from the outside. I think all their batsmen, right from Jermaine Blackwood, Jason Holder and Shane Dowrich, all of them applied themselves. It's something that we also have to sit down and analyze as to how we're going to get the last five wickets because in this series they have certainly contributed," he added.
