New Zealand brought India to its knees in October and across the border the West Indies got into the act and pulled off a stunner in Pakistan.
The Kiwis recorded their first Test victory on dusty Indian soil for the first time in 36 years and that wasn’t all. The visitors then rubbed the noses of the home team by doing the unthinkable – whitewashing India. It was the first time that India had been whitewashed 3-0 in its history.
In Multan on Tuesday the West Indies rose to the top by securing its first Test win in Pakistan in 34 years! Previously, when the then mighty West Indies won it was on the backs of their star batsmen and the fiery corps of lightning quick fast bowlers.
But this time around Pakistan fell into a web spun by 32-year-old Jomel Warrican who ended with match figures of nine for 70 as the visitors won by 120 runs to tie the two-Test series at 1-1. The last time the West Indians won a Test in Pakistan was in Faisalabad in November 1990. Since then, the Windies have only played two series in that country in 1997 and 2006 as international teams refused to play there following a terrorist attack in Lahore in 2009.
The West Indies did in fact at one stage produce some world-class twirlers. Sonny Ramadhin and Alf Valentine made their mark in the 1960s and early 1970s before passing on the torch to the great Lance Gibbs who at 90 resides in the United States.
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Like most up-and-coming West Indians, the 32-year-old Warrican set his mind on becoming a pace bowler and that comes as no surprise as they have produced more classy pace bowlers than any other nation. In fact, Pakistan, too, was famous for its pace bowlers such as Imran Khan, the former prime minister of the country, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar. But in this captivating series, it was the home team’s spinners who cast their netting wide in its victory in the first Test. Pakistani spin-triplets Sajid Khan, Abrar Ahmed and Nauman Ali spearheaded the home team to victory by 127 runs. Sajid took five wickets in the second innings for match figures of nine for 115, while leg-spinner Ahmed snared four for 27 and Ali five for 39 in the first innings. Warrican was also a factor in this first encounter where his nagging line and length earned him match figures of 10-101, his first 10-wicket match haul. In the second encounter it was his turn to grab the honours and victory as well.
The 32-year-old bearded Warrican grew up in St. Vincent but then moved to Barbados with his father who was a professor at the University of the West Indies. It was here that Roddy Estwick, a former Barbadian fast bowler and respected coach in the islands, urged Warrican to ditch his hopes of being a fast bowler and instead turn his attention to spin. Warrican listened and found success almost immediately as he impressed in the Under-19 World Cup where the West Indies finished third.
Warrican credits Indian spinner Ravindra Jadeja to help him become a world-class spinner. During a Test encounter between the two nations Jadeja took Warrican aside and gave him a few pointers on how he could excel in making that ball work wonders. “He had some technical doubts,’’ Jadeja said. “If your experience helps someone to get better, there cannot be anything better than that.” Jadeja advised him to get the ball to come straighter but not quicker. This action helped his delivery and hand become a momentary blur. West Indies lost that particular Test to India, but Warrican learned an invaluable lesson that has transformed into a top-notch bowler who we will hear more of in the coming months.
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ENGLAND HITS BACK
Star India pace bowler Mohammad Shami made his return to the international game after being sidelined for a year following an ankle operation, but he went wicketless in the third Twenty20 match at Rajkot that England won by 26 runs. India won the first two encounters but a brilliant bowling performance by England helped the visitors to pull one back and stay alive in the five-match series.
Once again India held the upper-hand early on as England crashed from 83 for one to 127 for eight before rallying to set India 172 to win. England had no answer to Varun Chakravarthy’s spinning wiles as he captured five for 24 to take his haul to 10 wickets in the three matches. But a late flurry by Liam Livingstone who plundered 43 off 24 balls helped after opener Ben Duckett led the way with 51 off 28 balls.
Scores: England 171 for nine. India 145 for nine in 20 overs. (Hardik Pandya 40, Abhishek Sharma 24, Jamie Overton three for 24, Brydon Carse two for 28, Jofra Archer two for 33).
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