Series win and No. 1 ranking on India’s radar

Match facts

August 9-13, 2016 Start time 1000 local (1400 GMT)

Big Picture

During the rearguard in the second Test, when there was general momentary positivity around West Indies cricket, a feedback to ESPNcricinfo commentary put the plight of West Indies’ long-form cricket in perspective. “Ten years ago, we used to talk about WI turning the corner when we won a Test match,” Joel, the correspondent, said. “Now we’re talking about it after winning a session.”

West Indies drawing a Test that seemed long lost is worth celebrating, but the proof of this pudding lies in its sustainability. Given that most of their best talent are either not interested or not wanted in Test cricket, it will be a great result for Phil Simmons’ and Jason Holder’s team if they can consistently make teams work hard for wins. The bowlers will need the same discipline as they showed in Jamaica, the lower middle order will have to show the same application. And, yet, if their top order continues to contribute to the opposition’s cause, they will keep needing help from the weather to save matches, lest we forget that four washed-out sessions played their due role in the draw.

Expect India to come back hard at West Indies. They have added motivation, thanks to Australia’s poor series in Sri Lanka. Leading the series 1-0 after two Tests, if they win the two remaining matches, India will go to the top of the ICC Test rankings, irrespective of the results in other concurrent series. They will have an issue or two after the previous Test. Cheteshwar Pujara’s struggle to convert slow starts leaves a little extra strain on the five-batsman unit. Internal questions will be asked of the five-bowler attack that couldn’t close the game out. While it is understandable that the pitch hadn’t broken up enough, that West Indies had finally put up a fight will leave a side striving to be the best in the world to ask more of itself.

Form guide

West Indies DLDLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)India DWWWD

In the spotlight

After roaring back into the side with a match-winning century against Sri Lanka in Colombo last year, Cheteshwar Pujara has averaged 33 in eight innings, with just one half-century. Four of his six Tests since have come in pretty testing conditions in India, where the ball turned alarmingly pretty consistently. His strike rate of 41 compares poorly with his career strike of 48 …

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