West Indies wrist spinner Devendra Bishoo has called for patience as WI struggled on day one and could only pick up four wickets. The pitch at Antigua has been on the slower side with bowlers struggling to get much out of the track.
Bishoo, who picked up three for 108, was the lone successful bowler for windies. India will start day 2 on four for 302 courtesy Virat Kohli’s magical 143 not out.
“I think this is a very good pitch. It’s a batting pitch,” Bishoo said after the day’s play.
“We, as bowlers, have to be patient as much as possible and take it one ball at a time. Day one pitches don’t turn that much. On days three, four and maybe day five, it’s going to turn more,” the pint-sized leg-spinner added.
“We could have been in a better position probably. At the end of the day, it’s a good pitch and the Indian batsmen kept relishing it. We just didn’t put the ball in the areas as much, but we bowled well in patches.
“We just have to take it one over at a time and take it session by session. Put the ball in the right areas for as long as possible, and make it hard for them. At the end of it, we have to be patient,” he added.
West Indies, who went into the Test match with one genuine quick in Shannon Gabriel was the only saving grace. The other fast bowlers were bowling in the region of 125-128 kmph and made it too easy for Indian batsmen, who took full advantage and scored some easy runs. Gabriel bowled with pace and got the big wicket of Murali Vijay in the first session.
“I think Shannon bowled really good upfront today and he started off very well. He bowled with great pace. The rest of the bowlers, as I said, bowled well in patches. We need to be a bit more patient because the wicket is good,” said Bishoo.
When asked if West Indies missed a trick by picking only four bowlers plus debutant Roston Chase, he replied in negative.
“No. At the end of day, whatever team we have to play with as a team, we have to play. We support each other and give our 100 percent. I’m not going to put anything on anybody. To play good cricket, bowlers have to do their job and batsmen have to do theirs.”
Bishoo expected WI to fight back and stop India from getting a mammoth score in the first innings. He downplayed Kohli’s 12th hundred.
“It’s not challenging (to bowl at him). At the end of the day, it’s cricket. We have to be patient. It’s just the start of the series and there is a long way to go. Everybody has good and bad days, we just have to move forward as a team,” he signed off.
WI would like to regroup and reassess their plans. India would like to bat only once and score big and try to pick up 20 wickets with five genuine bowlers that they have picked.