Ex-India spinner Anil Kumble expressed sharp criticism of Shubman Gill’s captaincy in the second Test of the two-match series against West Indies, expressing the opinion that Gill let chances slip by to keep applying pressure when it was most needed. Having forced the follow-on on Day 3, there were high hopes for a quick Indian win. But West Indies openers John Campbell and Shai Hope had other ideas, both scoring gritty centuries to check India’s run.
Even though the two batters left shortly after scoring their hundreds, India had to struggle hard for the last breakthrough. A dogged last-wicket partnership between Justin Greaves and Jayden Seales contributed 79 crucial runs, annoying the hosts and pushing the West Indies’ second-innings score to 390. This gave India a target of 121 for win.
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Commenting on JioHotstar, Kumble discussed a conversation he once had with West Indies coach Daren Sammy, in which he urged the Caribbean team to be more resilient with the bat. Here, Kumble took the opportunity to speak of India’s tactical errors, especially the failure to capitalize on crucial periods with the ball.
“The pitch was really docile. One thing India could have done better was to put a little more pressure on the batters. But credit to the West Indian batters as well. I know we’re looking at it from an Indian bowling perspective, but I thought the West Indies batters really applied themselves. I had a brief chat with Darren Sammy, their coach, yesterday morning, and the first thing he said was, ‘I wish our batters could apply themselves more’,” Kumble said.
“They’ve now shown the coach that they can do it. We saw that yesterday and again today. Even the tail-enders applied themselves really well. I thought the No. 10 and No. 11 batted brilliantly to frustrate the Indian bowlers. Maybe, India could have applied a bit more pressure through field placements to force mistakes,” he added.
“West Indies went past the follow-on mark and ensured that India had to bat again. I thought Shai Hope was exceptional. We all know his potential. He’s done it consistently in white-ball cricket. He had a great start to his Test career as well,” said Kumble.
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“I remember when I was a coach and we toured the West Indies, he played a practice game before the series started, batted brilliantly, got a hundred, and looked the part. Since then, his performances have dipped a bit, but to reach his first fifty after 31 innings and now a hundred today, he has really looked solid. I’m sure he’s now taken that No. 4 role very seriously, and that’s something the West Indies will want to build on moving forward,” he added.
With Day 5 in sight, KL Rahul and Sai Sudharsan were poised to continue India’s pursuit, with 58 runs required to win and seal a 2-0 series win. Even with the lengthy fourth innings, Kumble didn’t hesitate to praise Shai Hope for his incredible century his third in Test cricket. With the ball, it was Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav who set the tone, taking three wickets each to finally bowl out West Indies during the last session of Day 4.
