Is there anyone in the Indian team ultra-charged to excel in the second and final Test against the West Indies? The opposition outplayed in the first Test, the entire team will be keen to take maximum points from its first series in the new World Test Championship cycle. A couple of batters, who did not get runs, will also be giving it their best, like the fast bowlers who did not get many overs in Dominica.
With them, yearning to do something notable will be Ishan Kishan. Of the three debutants from the two sides in the series opener, he was the only one who did not get to bat for as long as he would have liked. Yashaswi Jaiswal made 171, and West Indies’ Alick Athanaze an impressive 47 in the first innings. Kishan faced just 20 balls and brought up his first Test run off the last of those before India declared.
That might have hurt. His expression didn’t betray disappointment as he sprinted back towards the pavilion to slip on a different pair of pads and gloves after Rohit Sharma called them in. Deep down, Kishan might have felt bad because the one not out against his name was not something he wanted in his maiden appearance at this level. Being sent in at No. 7 might also have made things different, because he does not bat so low in first-class cricket.
Not that the wicketkeeper should feel insecure. Not only because he took two smart catches — one off pace and another off spin — and was more or less tidy behind the stumps. Considering what seems to be a policy of giving players a fair run, Kishan should get a few more Tests before being judged. KS Bharat played five in succession. In Port of Spain, Kishan will play his second. But the catch is that he won’t play another Test until January next year, because India aren’t playing any.
That’s why doing something substantial in Brian Lara country is important for this left-hand batter, who is seen in certain quarters as a like-for-like replacement for Rishabh Pant. With Pant unlikely to return in a hurry and despite KL Rahul recovering, Kishan, now 25, is expected to stay in the scheme of things in white-ball cricket, having an ODI double-century under his belt already. But right now, runs in Test cricket are his priority.
That’s because the resumption of Kishan’s Test career after West Indies will be a long process. There will be a cocktail of ODI and T20s in West Indies, Ireland and in the Asia Cup before the World Cup. Then, India play ODIs and T20s in South Africa before the two-Test series. So the 100th Test between India and West Indies is the Jharkhand player’s chance to perform and be remembered until January.
Primarily, Kishan has been chosen ahead of Bharat because of the latter’s failures with the bat. It was a tough test, given that all five matches the Andhra ‘keeper played were against Australia, three of them on turning tracks against Nathan Lyon and another in England where the ball behaved differently. That way, Bharat was probably somewhat unfortunate.
In such circumstances, one person’s misfortune becomes an opportunity for someone else. Having got that, Kishan must be ruing that he didn’t face more deliveries. But that can happen to the No. 7 against weaker opponents. He has to accept that Ravindra Jadeja is the first-choice as No. 6 and adjust accordingly. So Kishan’s challenge is different. Unlike others, he has to play a new role. This test of reinventing himself starts at India’s favourite hunting ground in the Caribbean.