West Indies are lucky to have a leader like Darren Sammy. Throughout this series-as he has so far in his captaincy tenure-Sammy once again proved that with commitment, his team can achieve many things. Only South Africa have known the taste of beating India in India in the last five years. Yet Sammy's inexperienced bunch came very close yesterday to nearly shock India on a cathartic final day's play which ended with the game being drawn off the last ball. It was a dramatic day of Test cricket, which would not have been possible without the courage displayed by West Indies. Their captain could not bowl with a sore hamstring and hobbled around the field all afternoon; their specialist spinner, Devendra Bishoo, also limped with a thigh strain picked up while batting in the first innings; their experience-thin bowling attack had to not only counter the formidable Indian batting but also a vociferous home crowd hurling abuses.
Sammy had to keep thinking on one leg if he had to stop India from securing a 3-0 whitewash. The day had started off with the West Indies batsmen shockingly throwing away their wickets in complete contrast to the admirable application they had shown on the first two days. A target of 243 in 64 overs did not seem out of hand for India. Virat Kohli had said the previous evening that India could chase down a target in one-and-a-half sessions. The game was on when Virender Sehwag, having started steadily, was clocking boundaries at his usual rate as the Indian boat streamed at five runs an over. It did not deter Sammy and his troops. He had read the final day pitch well and made Samuels bowl for nearly three hours for a marathon spell of 25 overs. From the other end, Bishoo gamely challenged the Indians to take him on.
Sammy knew the pressure would get to India once the wickets fell. He changed his field constantly but purposefully, encouraging his bowlers to pitch attacking lines. Ravi Rampaul got the old ball to reverse wonderfully.
On Friday, Rampaul bore the brunt of abuses from the Wankhede crowd once he cut short Sachin Tendulkar's fairy tale. He said he would not step out of the team hotel last evening. Yesterday he stepped out to deliver an attacking spell of fast bowling that accounted for VVS Laxman and MS Dhoni.
Eventually the nerves got to the Indians as partnerships were broken at critical times. Even when 55 runs were need off the 15 mandatory overs, West Indies knew they had a chance. Sammy said his team showed the same determination evident in June during the final Test of the home series against India in Dominica where Rampaul did not bowl in the first innings. "We showed fight in Dominica when we had three bowlers. Today (yesterday) again, a bowler down, we really showed a lot of fight. That is a positive we could take from this series; we really kept our head up when we were down."
