In Stats: India’s Recent Form May Overturn Poor Record At Jamaica

Team India take on West Indies in the 2nd Test Match of the series starting on 30 July.

The Indian cricket team will be seen in action in the second Test match that begins in Jamaica on Saturday. India, 1-0 up in the four-Test series after the win in Antigua, will look to build on the lead and convert it to an unbeatable 2-0 lead at the Sabina Park.

Form Seems To Favour, Numbers Don’t

Virat Kohli’s lads must take confidence from India’s record at the Sabina Park in recent years. It was at this venue that India won a Test match during the 2006 and 2011 tour, which eventually turned out to be the series-winning Test match.

The 2nd Test Story

India should also be aware that in recent times, they have done fairly well in second Test matches of overseas tours. On the tour of Sri Lanka in 2015, India bounced back after losing the opening Test match in Galle to win the second Test in P Sara Oval in Colombo, and then went on to win the third Test and therefore the series.

Will Sabina Park Be Lucky For Hosts Again?

The West Indies have won 23 of the 48 Test matches they’ve played at the Sabina Park in Jamaica; that’s the most number of Test matches they’ve won at any one particular venue. But one shouldn’t be fooled by that statistic or go into believing that it’s a venue where they do well; far from it in fact. When the West Indies were playing their best cricket – back in the 1970s and 1980s, and when they had the fearsome pace attack, they did not lose a Test match between 1960 and 1989.

But since then, visiting teams have found it a little easier to win Test matches at Kingston. The alarming number to note is that in their last eight Test matches at the Sabina Park, the West Indies have lost 6 – as many as they lost between 1930 and 2004!

Joseph - The Young Sensation

The West Indies selectors have named the Under-19 sensation Alzarri Joseph in the squad for the second Test. Joseph’s selection comes on the heels of an impressive performance in West Indies’ successful Under-19 World Cup campaign earlier this year. A fast bowler who plays first-class cricket for the Leewards Islands, Joseph picked up 13 wickets in the Under-19 World Cup and even broke the backbone of the Indian team in the Final, with a three-wicket burst.

If Joseph, aged 19 years and 253 days, happens to make his Test debut on Saturday, he will be among the youngest to play Test cricket for the West Indies in this century.

Pace Likely To Dominate At Sabina Park

On evidence of the pictures one has seen coming out of Jamaica, the groundsman has left plenty of live grass on the surface. If one were to read from the pictures, the pitch appears to be pretty hard and one expects there will be plenty of encouragement for the quick bowlers.

Remember, there was a time when Jamaica had the reputation of being the quickest and hardest pitch in the world. The forthcoming Test match will make for gripping viewing and an interesting Test match if the surface behaves anything like it did during West Indies’ glory days.

Opening Partnership A Concern

Both teams need to be mindful of the fact that it is generally difficult for opening batsmen – especially early on in the match. In the last 14 Test matches at the Sabina Park, the average opening partnership in the first innings of the match has been 17.71 – with the opening pair adding more than 50 only once in 14 outings.