West Indies vs India, 2nd Test – Who Said What

India didn’t take too long to finish the customary in the second Test against West Indies. Even though the hosts put up their best batting performance of this series in this innings, they were always ascending a steep mountain. It is never easy and like most of the other teams under such pressure, they crumbled as well. Thus, India managed to accomplish the clean sweep and also won its eighth consecutive series against this opposition.

Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami accounted for three wickets each in the innings. For West Indies, Shamarh Brooks was the best performer with the bat and scored 50 runs. Concussion substitute Jermaine Blackwood and skipper Jason Holder contributed with handy 38 and 39 runs respectively. But these efforts were never going to be sufficient while chasing such a huge target.

India won the match comprehensively by a 257-run margin. Moreover, Virat Kohli became the captain with most Test wins (28) for India with this victory. The record was previously held by MS Dhoni (27). Hanuma Vihari, for his excellent batting efforts, was named the Man of the Match.

Jason Holder, the Windies captain, said

Obviously disappointed, we didn’t play a complete game of cricket in both the games. We need to put up the scores and fight out those tough periods, it’s a tough question on how to fix the batting. It’s an individual thing, we need to take ownership of our performances.

The bowlers gave their 100% as we’ve been on the field every single day of this Test series, and the bowlers have delivered. It’s been a heavy workload on the bowlers, and at no point have they dropped their heads. They knew our bowling was good – they made us work hard for those wickets. They are a quality side and they played quality cricket, we didn’t bat well enough. That’s the quality of their side. As a batter you need to get in, only then it gets easier. You had to work hard for your runs.

Virat Kohli, the India captain, said

Pretty comprehensive again. Played really good cricket over four days. Getting result in the manner that you want is crucial. Were in some tricky situations. Took a lot of character from the boys collectively.

Hanuma (Vihari) was the standout batsman in this game. Contributions all around. Was a game full of grit and determination. According to the surface, it was a top-class innings (Vihari). He’s someone who is sure of his game and it shows. Dressing room feels calm when he’s batting. That’s a quality he possesses naturally. He’s willing to improve. Accepts and corrects his mistakes. Plays with a lot of heart. Always up to do anything for the team. It’s a very young career so far but he’s shown why he’s been backed and selected in this team.

It’s a by-product of the quality team we have here (becoming the most successful Indian captain). If we didn’t have the bowlers we have, these results wouldn’t have been possible. If you see these guys running in – Shami’s spell today, Bumrah after having a small niggle, Ishant bowling his heart out, Jadeja bowling a long spell. Captaincy is just a C in front of your name. It’s the collective effort that matters.

For us, it’s just the start of the Championship. Whatever’s happened in the past is irrelevant. Look forward to keep continuing playing good cricket. West Indies would know the areas they need to improve on. From bowling point of view, they were outstanding. Jason and Kemar were the standout bowlers for them. Their bowling attack with the red ball here is as lethal as anyone. If they get enough runs on the board, they’ll be a very dangerous opposition in Test cricket.

Hanuma Vihari, the Man of the Match, said

It feels great to score my maiden Test century, I missed out on a hundred in the last match, so I was focusing on a big score this time. We were 200 for 5 and that was my goal while batting with Rishabh (Pant). We had to be patient on this wicket as there was something in it for the fast bowlers. I was trying to take calculative risk against spinners, that was the game plan and it worked well for me. I have not played a Test at home, looking forward to it. It’s great to play in front of the home crowd back in India.