Former India left-arm fast-bowler Zaheer Khan believes Rohit Sharma & Co will have to aim for quick wickets on Day Four of the ongoing second Test to wrap West Indies first innings quickly.
In day three’s play at the Queen’s Park Oval, West Indies adopted a cautious approach and chose to toil hard, reaching 229 for five at stumps and still trailing India’s 1st innings total of 438 by 209 runs.
Skipper Kraigg Brathwaite was the top scorer for the West Indies, accumulating 75 runs off 235 balls, laced with five fours and a six. With the second new ball just 5.1 overs old, India aim to make inroads in an early start to day four’s play.
“They have been holding the West Indies to a decent total right now. Five wickets are down and it would have been lovely for India to finish the day with another wicket. But that wasn’t the case. You saw some help for the seamers. With the second new ball, Mukesh and Siraj were very good with their line and length.”
“There was some swing on offer too. So, hope they continue with that in the first session of Day Four and wrap up this West Indies innings as quickly as possible. There are still six sessions of play left but for that, they need to get West Indies all out as soon as possible,” Zaheer was quoted as saying by JioCinema.
He also believes India will be eyeing to restrict the hosts to under 300 in their first innings.
“That should be their first target. It will give them enough runs to play around with, and with that lead, they can have a positive approach and maybe look at 300-350 as a target for the West Indies on the last day. That will give them a good opportunity to have a really good crack at winning this Test match,” concluded Zaheer.
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