After the humiliation of the first Test match, Windies staged a considerable comeback in the second Test. They were bolstered with the comeback with their captain Jason Holder and looked in far better shape in Hyderabad. Their rearguard action was defined by a fine unbeaten knock of 98 by Roston Chase, who has looked the best batsman for the visitor on this tour.
"I just took my time, more than what I did in the first game where I thought I just went away from my strengths and tried to over-hit the ball which is not necessary on outfields like the ones you get here," Chase said after the day's play.
The young all-rounder looked good in the first Test too, but could not stamp his authority on the match and said that went back and worked with the coaches and tried to bat for a longer period of time.
'Was looking to focus on my game'
"I was working hard with my coaches and as I said in the press conference, it is about believing in the processes and in your game and the results would come. I didn't worry about what was happening at the other end and was only looking to focus on my game," Chase said.
The Windies middle order is a fragile one and young players in Shimron Hetmyer and Sunil Ambris looked all at sea against the quality of the Indian spinners, but Chase was always assured in his approach and decisive footwork and this yielded dividends for him.
"The spinners dominate the bowling in FC cricket in the Caribbean so I am accustomed to playing spin bowling. I thought the wickets here would spin a lot more but they are really good," he reflected after the day's play.
The seventh wicket stand between Chase and captain Jason Holder was worth 104 runs and both batsmen played each ball on their merit and looked very comfortable. However, Holder was dismissed by Umesh Yadav in the last half hour of the day. Chase now holds the key on day 2 and he will have to stay put if Windies are to breach the 350-run mark.
