India will be up against the West Indies in a two-match Test series starting on the 12th of July. The first Test is scheduled to be played at Dominica, while the second Test will be played at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain. It will be streamed on JioCinema, Fancode and Doordarshan.
This series is an important one in the context of the World Test Championship. A handful of players will get an opportunity to make their mark and establish themselves as regulars in the Test unit.
Virat Kohli and Rahul Dravid are returning to this venue for Test cricket after 12 years, however this time as a senior player and head coach.
India registered a 2-0 win the last time they toured the team. They have only played one Test match in this venue, all the way back in 2011.
India drew the last Test they played in Dominica against West Indies in 2011
India had a 1-0 lead coming into the 3rd match of the series. MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to field first. West Indies scored 204 in the first innings, with wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh (60) and Darren Bravo (50) registering half-centuries. Ishant Sharma was the pick of the bowlers, taking a five-wicket haul (5/77 in 22.3 overs). He was supported well by the rest of the bowling attack - Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar and Munaf Patel.
Dhoni's men responded well, scoring 347 runs in their first innings. There were a bunch of useful contributions throughout the innings - Abhinav Mukund (62), VVS Laxman (56), Suresh Raina (50) and MS Dhoni (74). Fidel Edwards was comfortably the most threatening bowler in the pack (5/103), while Darren Sammy and Devendra Bishoo also chipped in with a couple of wickets each.
The pressure was now on the hosts to avoid a series loss on home soil. Two brilliant centuries from the debutant Kirk Edwards (110) and the legendary Shivnarine Chanderpaul (116*) meant that they could fight back into the game. Harbhajan Singh bowled brilliantly, taking a four-wicket haul. He triggered a collapse from 201/3 to 322 all-out.
India scored 94/3 in 32 overs while chasing 180. However, with 86 runs required from the last 15 overs with 7 wickets in hand, the two teams shook hands and settled for a draw.
This was an anti-climatic end to a good series win for India, who were the number 1 Test side in the world at that time. Dhoni received criticism for not going for the win, despite having Dravid and Laxman at the crease and the likes of himself, Kohli and Raina to follow.
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