WI toss away the advantage

If Carl Hooper’s intention was to give his slip fielders a few relaxed hours in the mid-morning sunshine, and then some more, he went about it the right way. In a matching gesture, opener Wasim Jaffer magnanimously decided to extend the R&R invitation to the other opponents too.

It was a straightforward story these first two sessions of the fourth Test at St. John’s: No devil in the wicket to trouble the Indian batsmen, for all the watering it got on Thursday no juice in it for the four Windies seamers to extract, and a rare spectacle of an India opener confidently trading in boundaries, easing his shots around mostly stationary fielders. And India ensconced at tea time at 153 for the loss of Shiv Sundar Das’ wicket.

When Hooper won the toss for the fourth time in succession and put India in, the stakes were obvious. The West Indies bowlers would have to pocket a flurry of wickets before lunch, to put pressure on a much pressurised Indian middle-order before the wicket flattens out by the second day. For India, it was a good toss to lose. Having folded up ignominiously at Bridgetown, Saurav Ganguly’s boys had to announce their presence by posting a fighting total. They appear to be on their way. And the verdict has already been announced: India cannot lose from here.

Play, however, started with a familiar sight of an opener — Das — returning early to the pavilion. Das remained fidgety and nervous and overly defensive. A rather innocuous delivery in Pedro Collins’ first over had him jumping up, playing neither forward nor back, simply playing on to the stumps. That was the first and last time before tea that the small gatherings in the Rude Boy Stand and the more upmarket Double Decker pavilion had cause for celebration — in fact, cause for any excitement whatsoever. Batsmen ducked to bouncers early, the Windies bowlers struggled to swing the ball. Brian Lara, at slip, could well have drifted into dreamy remembrances of that day eight years ago when he posted 375. The only interruption would have been the umpire’s call ‘over’.

The day belonged in full part to Jaffer. The 24-year-old Mumbai batsman, living up to his reputation for timing and technique, played not one false shot. He left iffy deliveries alone, and despatched everything else with the full flow of his bat. He may have sought to lay claim to the cover region, but his wagon wheel as he notched up a second consecutive half century was well-coloured in, including a memorably classy straight drive off Adam Sanford. All in all, a wonderful day’s play. Sunny skies, harmless puffs of cloud rapidly floating by in the cool breeze, the sharp clack sound as Jaffer and Rahul Dravid negotiate the red cherry with the full face of their bat.

Both teams have made just one change since their last confrontation at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown. India have substituted Anil Kumble for Harbhajan Singh, and his wealth of experience should help on this placid track. In fact, while the wicket is not assisting pace, Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan should manage to get a fair measure of swing. They would have to if they intend to bowl out the opposition twice over. The West Indies have included Wavell Hinds.