They said Praveen Kumar could only bowl with the new ball. The debutant proved the doubters wrong on day two of the first Digicel Test at the Sabina Park here on Tuesday.
Three deadly strikes from Praveen — he got the ball to swing both ways from a whippy wrist action — reduced the West Indies to 119 for five at lunch.
Counter-attack
On the first day, a counter-attacking innings from Suresh Raina (82) and Harbhajan Singh (70) enabled India to recover from 85 for six to eventually finish at a competitive 246 in its first innings.
The ball was 36 overs old when Praveen began a fresh spell from the Michael Holding end. He removed a well-set Adrian Barath (64) with a lovely delivery that left the batsman late and found the edge.
Then, Praveen shifted his line admirably to the left-handed Darren Bravo (18). The delivery shaped away, forcing the batsman to nick to wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Praveen was not finished yet. Brendon Nash was foxed by the movement in the air as he attempted to work one on the on-side; the leading edge was pouched by Raina at third slip. India was back in the hunt.
Ishant Sharma, getting the ball to kick up from short of a good length, also posed searching questions to the batsmen. He trapped Ramnaresh Sarwan early with an off-cutter; the batsman padded up and umpire Ian Gould upheld the appeal.
From the other end, there was turn and bounce for Harbhajan but a wicket eluded the senior off-spinner.
Barath made an impression. He, rightly, played with soft-hands; he loosened his grip on the bottom hand.
On a surface offering appreciable turn, a batsman needs to go forward to smother the spin or travel right back, watching the ball on to the bat and then keeping the sphere down.
There were occasions where he was beaten, but Barath did not allow these instances to cloud his mind. He was not one-dimensional in his approach either.
Between periods of studious defence, he sashayed down to Harbhajan Singh and drove the off-spinner through cover.
He whipped Praveen past the ropes and lofted leg-spinner Amit Mishra to reach his half-century. He celebrated the occasion by stepping out and striking Mishra beyond the wide long-on ropes.
Fortunate
The left-handed Bravo (on 9) was fortunate when Raina grassed a tough chance at third slip; Ishant was the bowler to suffer.
The lanky paceman was perhaps unlucky not to win a caught-behind verdict off the next delivery; the replays were inconclusive.
On day one, Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh the two added 146 runs for the seventh wicket in a crucial partnership as India recovered from 85 for six.
Then, a blistering spell from Fidel Edwards — he swung the ball at telling speeds and went for the jugular with his short-pitched stuff — enabled the host to restrict India to 246 in its first innings.
The West Indies lost opener Lendl Simmons in the final session; he was caught bat-pad at short-leg after Ishant got a delivery to nip back.
The left-right combination of Raina and Harbhajan disrupted the line of the West Indies bowlers in a crucial stand. The marauding West Indies was pegged back.
Raina batted with balance and poise; ducked under the short-pitched deliveries. The left-hander had a lot riding on this innings and put his mind over matter.
The southpaw was also judicious in his stroke-play. Raina oozed self-belief when he cover-drove Bishoo off the front foot. Soon, the leg-spinner was straight-driven. Indeed, Bishoo struggled against the left-handed Raina and the innings witnessed a momentum shift.
Raina relied on time-tested methods. When the ball was pitched up, he drove in the ‘V'. And when the deliveries were pitched short, the left-hander responded with cuts and pulls.
Determined Raina
The determined Raina was the last man to be dismissed; his pull off Rampaul was held by Bishoo close to the square-leg ropes.
Wherever there is Harbhajan, a fight is seldom far away. Harbhajan waded into the attack and took calculated risks against Bishoo to upset his rhythm.
When Bishoo varied his trajectory with a quicker ball, Harbhajan responded with a fierce cut. And when he flighted, Harbhahan dared to hit against the spin with a slog sweep.
Harbhajan's hand-eye coordination is his ally. And he can also cause plenty of damage with his bat-speed. When Rampaul pitched short, he nonchalantly swung him to the fine-leg ropes. Harbhajan, soon, bludgeoned Rampaul through covers.
Eventually, a brilliant act of catching ended the surging association. Bishoo sprinted to deep square-leg and then dived to his left to come up with the ball after Harbhajan miscued a hook off Edwards.
Rahul Dravid (40) had promised much before Bishoo, imparting serious revolutions on the ball, took him out on the drive with a flighted leg-spinner. Seeking early momentum after lunch, Dravid smacked Bishoo for boundaries through covers off either foot. The leg-spinner held his nerve.
Bishoo struck again. The leg-spinner gave the ball air, putting seeds of doubts in Mahendra Singh Dhoni's mind about the whereabouts of his off-stump. The Indian skipper, caught at the crease, was done in by both the turn and the bounce.
Then came the Indian revival.
Scoreboard
India — 1st innings : A. Mukund b Rampaul 11 (41b, 1x4), M. Vijay c Bishoo b Rampaul 8 (12b, 1x4), R. Dravid c Sammy b Bishoo 40 (67b, 7x4), V.V.S. Laxman c Sammy b Bishoo 12 (31b, 2x4), V. Kohli c Baugh b Edwards 4 (10b, 1x4), S. Raina c Bishoo b Rampaul 82 (115b, 15x4), M.S. Dhoni c Simmons b Bishoo 0 (2b), Harbhajan c Bishoo b Edwards 70 (74b, 10x4, 1x6), Praveen lbw b Edwards 4 (7b, 1x4), A. Mishra c Sarwan b Edwards 6 (13b), Ishant Sharma (not out) 0 (2b); Extras (b-1, lb-2, nb-6): 9; Total (in 61.2 overs): 246.
Fall of wickets : 1-15 (Vijay), 2-30 (Mukund), 3-64 (Laxman), 4-69 (Kohli), 5-83 (Dravid), 6-85 (Dhoni), 7-231 (Harbhajan), 8-236 (P. Kumar), 9-246 (Mishra).
West Indies bowling : Edwards 16-1-56-4, Rampaul 18.2-2-59-3, Sammy 13-3-42-0, Bishoo 11-2-75-3, Simmons 2-0-8-0, Nash 1-0-3-0.
West Indies — Ist innings : A. Barath c Dhoni b Praveen 64 (122b, 9x4, 1x6), L. Simmons c Vijay b Ishant 3 (23b), R. Sarwan lbw Ishant 3 (30b), D. Bravo c Dhoni b Praveen 18 (56b, 2x4), S. Chanderpaul (batting) 9 (23b, 1x4), B. Nash c Raina b Praveen 1 (11b), C. Baugh (batting) 14 (14b, 1x6), Extras (b-1, lb-3, nb-3): 7, Total (for five wkts in 46 overs, at lunch): 119.
Fall of wkts : 1-18 (Simmons), 2-35 (Sarwan), 3-91 (Barath), 4-95 (Bravo), 5-102 (Nash).
India bowling : Praveen 15-5-24-3, Ishant 11-4-17-2, Mishra 9-0-36-0, Harbhajan 11-2-38-0.
