India are having a tight chokehold over the West Indies in the ongoing first Test of the 2-Test series, currently the game happening in Dominica.
However, according to former India skipper Anil Kumble, captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid missed a trick and made a mistake by not sending the aggressive Ishan Kishan over the conservative Ravindra Jadeja in the batting order.
It is not to forget that rain is predicted on Day 4 and Day 5 in this game. So India would want to bat quickly, take their lead to over 300-350, and give the bowlers enough time, even considering the rain around, to bowl West Indies out in the second innings. This may be a dull, one-sided Test going on, but there are WTC points at stake.
After bundling out the hosts for 150 on Day 1, India openers Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal piled up their respective centuries – Jaiswal becoming the 17th Indian and 3rd Indian opener to hit a century on Test debut – on Day 2.
Rohit and Gill got out in succession but Jaiswal and Kohli steadied the ship. They batted till stumps on Day 2. Then, on Day 3, Jaiswal was dismissed for 171, followed by the wicket of Ajinkya Rahane for a cheap score while Kohli notched up his 29th Test fifty, one which he would be determined to convert into a hundred, what would be his 29th Test ton.
Anil Kumble criticised Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid’s batting order
India then sent Ravindra Jadeja at number 6. This move was not appreciated by former India captain Anil Kumble, who suggested Ishan Kishan should have been sent ahead of Jadeja to score some quick runs.
“Ishan Kishan would have been the ideal choice, as India need to think about scoring runs at a brisk pace. The lead is over 200, and it was the right time to allow the debutant to show his class,” Anil Kumble was heard saying on commentary.
So far, all of Rohit, Jaiswal, Kohli, and Jadeja have batted at a strike rate of less than 50. In fact, Jadeja is going the slowest among these batters – he’s scored 22 runs off 60 balls at the time of writing, when the second session has just started.
