Former West Indies cricketer Ian Bishop said that the Queen’s Park Oval wicket in Trinidad will witness good competition between the bat and the ball, which will be used for the second Test against India. The first Test in Dominica was a one-sided contest, which ended within three days. The spinners had the upperhand, with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja picking up 17 of the 20 wickets as well.
Speaking on ESPNCricinfo, the cricketer-turned-commentator said: “I believe Trinidad will be, fingers crossed, different in the sense that, I think it will be a good cricket surface. Dominica was particularly hard to score even for Jaiswal and Rohit. They applied themselves better, and they were just highly skilled. There is a lead consultant on that surface in Trinidad who I think understands and has the resources to prepare a better surface. So, I’m trusting that will be the case.”
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Bishop further added: “The conditions in Dominica surprised me, because West Indian batters, in recent years, have generally struggled. Batting is a struggle, but against slow bowling, even more of a struggle. On that pitch, which literally began turning square halfway through Day 2 into Day 3, it was always going to be a challenge that was insurmountable against Ashwin and Jadeja, (who have) over 700-800 wickets in Test matches between them.”
However, apart from the debutant Alick Athanaze, none of the West Indian batters could manage to do well against the likes of Ashwin and Jadeja. They got out for 150 and 130 runs in the first and second innings, respectively, as India secured a massive victory by an innings and 141 runs.
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“I think we have to be a little more strategic in the Caribbean in understanding what our strengths are, and what our deficiencies are as a team. I am not saying that had it been a different sort of situation with a pitch that West Indies would have won. But at least give them a little more of a chance.”If it is a case where the knowledge of how to prepare, because I wouldn’t think that the pitch was deliberately prepared that way, I think it may just be a lack of understanding of how to prepare a cricket surface that would rewards batsmanship and good fast bowling, which I still think is our strength,” Ian Bishop concluded.
India and the West Indies will play the second Test at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad, starting on Thursday, July 20.
