Ravichandran Ashwin produced the supply of the sequence to breach a dogged Kraigg Brathwaite‘s defence as West Indies crawled to 174 for 3 at tea in opposition to India on the third day of the second Test on Saturday. West Indies skipper Brathwaite (75 off 235 balls) used his huge powers of focus to frustrate the Indian assault on an insipid monitor earlier than world’s No. 1 Test bowler held the centre stage with a magical second that introduced the grins again in Indian camp.

The monitor on supply here’s a poor commercial for Test cricket and if it will get any score aside from ‘Average’ from ICC that shall be an actual shock.

If West Indies have been indiscreet of their shot choice within the opening Test, the house crew batters have been over-cautious and a dull pitch helped their adverse method and a draw appears an inevitability.

Toiling for near 73 overs on a monitor which at finest might be known as ‘useless’, Ashwin (30-10-57-1) acquired supply that had flight and required inward drift which was ok to entice Brathwaite to plonk his front-foot for his umpteenth defensive prod.

But to his horror, the ball turned sharply, an off-spinner’s dream supply that went between bat and pad to hit the stumps.

Watch: Ashwin Bowls ‘Magic Delivery’ To Bowl Out West Indies Captain

Ashwin’s wizardry breaks by way of Brathwaite’s resistance!#WIvIND #SabJawaabMilenge #JioCinema pic.twitter.com/wJz8Ut3tX8

— JioCinema (@JioCinema) July 22, 2023

A compact defensive participant, Brathwaite’s solely fault was pushing his bat forward of his pad permitting the ball to use the hole to the fullest.

The dismissal got here simply when Brathwaite and an equally stodgy Jermaine Blackwood (16 off 89 balls) introduced their ultra-defensive ‘A’ recreation to the fore including solely 40 runs in 21 overs within the post-lunch session.

The Queens Park Oval monitor has actually nothing in it for bowlers and with West Indies batters intent to dam extra deliveries, creating probabilities grew to become all of the tougher.

Having misplaced higher a part of the primary session to rain, Indian bowlers have been left excessive and dry with the monitor not displaying appreciable put on and tear.

The figures of Ravindra Jadeja (19-10-19-1) was a sign sufficient that defending wasn’t tough as he hardly bowled any wicket-taking deliveries.

Ashwin additionally had his moments of frustration when he over-flighted a couple of deliveries and was dispatched to the boundary.

In the morning session, debutant Mukesh Kumar was rewarded for his nagging channel bowling as his maiden wicket within the type of fellow debutant Kirk McKenzie.

Bowling a line which is true on off-stump or shade outdoors of it, Mukesh bowled a supply on fuller aspect with not sufficient room to chop which McKenzie (32 off 57 balls) edged it to Ishan Kishan for a regulation catch.

McKenzie, who hit 4 boundaries and a six, appeared in superb contact and performed with plenty of objective throughout his 57-ball keep.

With the pitch not having any buy for both spinners or pacers, it has certainly been a tough toil for the Indian bowlers to this point.

However, one man who can be itching to get into the wickets column shall be veteran Saurashtra left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat.

The home workhorse undoubtedly is the weakest hyperlink within the Indian bowling assault as he has to this point given away 32 runs in 12 wicket-less overs to this point.

More than not getting the wickets, Unadkat hasn’t even appeared incisive sufficient to create issues for Brathwaite, who has a compact defensive recreation.

The lack of tempo and never having sufficient motion off the floor meant that Unadkat was the simplest bowler to barter.

With the subsequent sequence in South Africa, Unadkat with two wicket-less Tests within the West Indies would possibly discover it extraordinarily tough to carry onto his place within the squad.

The distinction between him and Mukesh has been the size that the Bengal pacer discovered which is barely fuller regardless of each of them bowling on the identical tempo.

There can also be that slight trace of motion inward or outward that may trigger confusion for batters whereas Unadkat’s inventory supply is one that’s pushed throughout the right-handers, which is kind of predictable.