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Windies pacemen have Indians hopping

S. Dinakar

Rahul Dravid holds firm as hosts make deep inroads

— PHOTO: AFP

TESTING DEBUT:Abhinav Mukund was looking good when he pushed a tad tentatively outside the off-stump at Ravi Rampaul — the delivery came in a shade — and ended up playing on.

Kingston: The resilient Rahul Dravid held firm with an unbeaten 30 as West Indies made deep inroads in the first session of the opening Digicel Test at the Sabina Park here on Monday.

India, electing to bat, was in trouble at 69 for four at lunch. The visitor stares at two hard sessions on a lively track.

Much of the cricket on view was engrossing. Fidel Edwards bounced at Dravid and the great batsman rose on his toes and kept the ball down with soft hands.

On another occasion, Dravid simply swayed away from the line of a lifter, his eyes never leaving the ball.

Ravi Rampaul, cleverly mixing the one leaving the batsman with the ball darting in, demanded attention. Dravid's defence was secure. He also seized in on the scoring opportunities. His off-drive off Rampaul was easy on the eye.

When Darren Sammy erred in line, Dravid whipped him to the fence. Always a strong back-foot player, he cut Edwards past the boundary when the paceman dropped one short.

The straightness of the willow of this formidable technician was on view when he pushed Edwards hard down the ground.

V.V.S. Laxman cut Sammy with finesse but was fortunate on five when Rampaul, at mid-on, failed to cling on to a tough chance when the batsman flicked Edwards uppishly.

Laxman succumbs

The elegant batsman, however, succumbed to the first delivery from leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo. The flighted ball drew Laxman forward and the turn found the edge for the slip to come into play. Bishoo, creditably, was spot on from the start.

Virat Kohli did not last long. His away-from-the-body push when Edwards got one to shape away was straight out of ODI cricket.

In an intriguing move earlier, the West Indies left out its fastest bowler in Kemar Roach. It was Roach and Andre Russell who troubled the Indian batsmen with speed and lift in the last leg of the ODI series. Both were not a part of the West Indies attack for the Test.

But then, a new ball combination of comeback man Edwards and Rampaul still represented a test for Murali Vijay and Abhinav Mukund.

There was a fair measure of bounce for the paceman from the surface as the ball travelled to 'keeper Carlton Baugh. Apart from a strong slip cordon, West Indies captain Sammy, on occasions, put a short-leg and a leg-gully in place.

The West Indies ploy was clear — the openers would be tested by short-pitched bowling.

Edwards, with his sling-arm action, and the bustling Rampaul form an interesting combination. Edwards can extract awkward lift from just short of a good length. Rampaul's run-up lacks momentum and thrust but he uses his strong shoulders and wrists to get the ball to climb.

Sound wrist position

Rampaul's sound wrist position also enables him to achieve lateral movement. The West Indian did trouble Vijay.

Vijay off-drove Rampaul with minimum fuss and maximum timing to the fence. Moments later, the pacemen defeated the batsman with a mean away seamer.

Vijay (8) perished in the same over. His miscued drive, without quite getting to the pitch of the ball, was snaffled up by Bishoo at point.

Meanwhile, the left-handed Abhinav was offering dogged resistance. He left deliveries outside the off-stump and got behind the line of searing short-pitched balls. The southpaw did not flinch.

Abhinav (11) was looking good when he pushed a tad tentatively outside the off-stump at Rampaul — the delivery came in a shade — and ended up playing on.

With just two pacemen in the eleven, Mahendra Singh Dhoni was left with few options than electing to bat.

Since India was fielding two spinners in Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra, it made sense for the side to back itself in the first hour, put runs on the board and hope that the pitch gradually offers help to the spinners.

Instead, the first session went the West Indies' way.

The Indian eleven featured three debutants in Abhinav, Kohli and Praveen Kumar.

India — Ist innings: Abhinav Mukund b Rampaul 11 ( 41b, 1x4), M. Vijay c Bishoo b Rampaul 8 ( 12b, 1x4), R. Dravid (batting) 30 ( 61b, 5x4), V.V.S. Laxman c Sammy b Bishoo 12 ( 31b, 2x4), V. Kohli c Baugh b Edwards 4 ( 10b, 1x4), Extras (lb-2, nb-2) 4, Total (for four wkts in 25.3 overs at lunch) 69.

Fall of wkts: 1-15 (Vijay), 2-30 (Abhinav), 3-64 (Laxman), 4-69 (Kohli).

West Indies bowling: Edwards 8.3-0-31-1, Rampaul 8-1-19-2, Sammy 7-2-17-0, Bishoo 2-2-0-1 .

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