5 Reasons behind Team India's resounding win against the West Indies

India won the second Test against the West Indies at Hyderabad by 10 wickets and with that the series by 2-0 margin. This was India’s 10th successive Test series win at home. In this period, India had beaten all Test playing nations except Pakistan who didn’t tour India.

When play started on the third day on Sunday morning with India on 304 for 4, everyone thought that India would bat on and on and the match would go into the fourth day. But the sudden unexpected loss of wickets by India and then the collapse by West Indies fast forwarded the match and out of nowhere, the match got over in 3 days.

Here is a look at the 5 reasons behind India’s resounding win.

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#1. Umesh Yadav’s decisive bowling spell

Umesh Yadav became only the third Indian fast bowler to take 10 wickets in a Test match at home

Umesh Yadav became only the third Indian fast bowler after Kapil Dev and Javagal Srinath to claim 10 wickets in a Test match in India. In the first innings, whenever Kohli brought Umesh on, he obliged his captain with a wicket.

Umesh never allowed partnerships to flourish in the West Indies first innings and finished with figures of 6 for 88.

India took a slender lead of 56 runs in the first innings. When the West Indies started their second innings, they were eager to wipe out the first innings deficit with minimum damage and to build from thereon.

At the start of his spell in the second innings, Umesh was on a hat-trick and Brathwaite barely managed to keep the first ball out. But he struck with his second ball, removing the latter for a duck.

Umesh Yadav’s telling contribution came in his second spell when he cleaned up the first innings centurion Roston Chase for 6. With the very next ball, he rattled Dowrich’s off-stump.

Umesh was on a hat-trick for the second time in the match. This time new batsman Holder denied him the hat-trick. Umesh came back to polish off the West Indies innings with the wicket of Gabriel.

He finished with figures of 4 for 45 in the second innings. He had match figures of 10 for 133, a remarkable achievement for a bowler who was India’s 5th choice fast bowler.

7 out of his 10 dismissals were either bowled or LBW. In the end, Umesh's performance was the difference between the two teams.

#2. Kuldeep Yadav’s spell in the first innings

Kuldeep Yadav triggered a middle-order collapse in the Windies first innings

In the first innings, Kuldeep Yadav took the wickets of 3 of the top 5 batsmen in the West Indies batting line up. He took the wickets of Brathwaite, Hetmyer, and Ambris and triggered a middle-order collapse.

In the second innings too, Kuldeep Yadav contributed with the wicket of Hetmyer. Kuldeep's regular wickets halted the West Indies progress.

#3. Prithvi Shaw’s blinder in the first innings

Prithvi Shaw with his aggressive innings nullified the first innings advantage

When West Indies managed 311 runs in the first innings, they were in with a chance with some early Indian wickets. But Prithvi Shaw thwarted any such ideas and blasted 70 off 53 balls with 11 fours and 1 six.

When Shaw got out, the Indian scoreboard read 98 and his contribution was 70. The Windies never expected such an excellent counter-attack from a newbie in Test cricket, and so were unable to control the free flow of runs.

Prithvi Shaw’s innings nullified the Windies advantage in the first innings.

#4. The Partnership between Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant

Rahane and Pant added 152 runs for the 5th wicket

When Virat Kohli got out for 45 in the first innings, India were in a spot of bother at 162 for 4. One more wicket would have exposed the lower-order batsmen. But Rahane and Rishabh Pant got together and added 152 runs for the 5th wicket.

The duo batted through the whole of the third session on day two and facilitated the team to inch closer to the Windies first innings score.

Rahane scored a solid 80 and got out only after the first innings lead was achieved. He fought his way out of a bad patch and warmed himself with a refreshing inning before the tour to Australia.

Rishabh Pant was in his usual aggressive self and scored a match-winning 92 with 11 fours and 2 sixes. For the second time in two matches, Pant got out for 92. But he has pulled India out of danger.

Rishabh Pant’s last 3 dismissals in his last 3 Test innings were all one-day dismissals hitting the ball uppishly in the air in trying to force the pace. With a little bit of prudence, Pant could have had 3 consecutive hundreds in 3 Test matches.

In the end, in a low scoring match, the 152 runs partnership between Rahane and Rishabh Pant proved to be decisive.

#5. Ashwin’s contribution with the bat and ball

Ashwin - The silent contributor

The injury to Shardul Thakur forced Virat Kohli to introduce Ashwin into the attack as early as in the fourth over of the match. The West Indies were not prepared for this and were taken by surprise.

Ashwin gave India the first breakthrough when he induced the dangerous Powell into playing a false stroke.

In the second innings too, Ashwin got the wicket of Powell who was caught brilliantly by Rahane in the slips. He finished with the wicket of Warrican.

While batting, Ashwin was struggling until Umesh Yadav got out. With an unfit Shardul Thakur as the last man with him, Ashwin decided to go for his shots. He added 28 valuable runs with Thakur for the last wicket which swelled the first innings lead to 56.

Ashwin was the last man out for 35. In the end, the lead of 56 proved to be too big for the West Indies batsmen to wipe out since they lost 4 wickets in the process.

Ashwin’s silent performance with both bat and ball almost went unnoticed but had a significant effect on the final outcome of the match.

So another Test match against the West Indies got over in 3 days time. But the real challenge starts off in Adelaide in less than two month’s time. Over to Australia.