Could have been different if we had bowled yesterday: Kumble
by Cricbuzz Staff •
Last updated on Thursday, 04 August, 2016, 01:56 PM
Kumble believed that the Indians fought hard but added that there were a few things that can be learnt from the last day © AFP
Anil Kumble, the coach of the Indian team, addressed the media at the end of the second Test in Jamaica. Excerpts from the press conference:
Life back in the series now?
Obviously we wanted to win this Test match. Yesterday, I thought, we were in a very good position and credit to the West Indies batsmen, the way they batted.
Yesterday, the time lost was very crucial for us, because we were in great momentum and the conditions were such that, it could have been different if we had probably bowled yesterday. There was loss of play, more than 100 overs in this Test match. But all those factors mattered. In the end, credit to the West Indian batsmen, how they batted today and their application as well.
How much does the performance show of Chase's character?
The West Indian captain also, post match, spoke about the character of the team. Creditable for someone playing his second Test match to bat through the day and save the game for his team. So obviously, Chase's approach today was very good. He looked to attack when needed to and blocked literally every ball, so kept our bowlers at bay, which was obviously disappointing from the outside. As I mentioned, I think all their batters, right from Blackwood, Holder and Dowrich, all of them applied themselves and it's something that we also have to sit down and analyse as to how we're going to get the last five wickets because in this series they have certainly contributed.
Did India delay declaration? Weather responsible for draw?
No, I don't think so. You can't really look at the forecast and take decisions. If you looked at the forecast on Day 3, it was supposed to rain the whole day, and even Day 4 it was supposed to rain. So you can't really look at the forecast and decide what you need to do. Yes, you strategise slightly differently. Having said that, we wanted to bat once because irrespective if you'd have declared probably at the end of second day with 160 on the board, you may have to have batted today. It's all nice to now sit and say when we should have declared and what if, but I thought we played really good cricket, we were dominant right throughout and today, you know the change in momentum happened and credit to the West Indian batsmen. You obviously feel from the position we were in that we should have probably wrapped up the Test match, but having said that this is certainly something that happens in a Test match. You have times when the opposition puts up a brave challenge and that's exactly what happened.
Instructions or plans as the day progressed?
The plan was always to take wickets. Initially, since we had 300 runs on the board, we were attacking and they came hard at us as well, and they got away in the five or six overs. They got a lot of runs. And once that one or one and half hour period happened, I believe the ball went a bit soft as well. So it was quite difficult to get the purchase that we were getting yesterday and the conditions were different as well. It was cloudy, there was some rain about and there was a lot more swing. So in that sense, we could have probably adapted better, but having said that the West Indian batsmen really applied themselves, so it was quite hard for our bowlers and this was certainly a learning. I'm sure next opportunity, whenever that is, the bowlers will be probably come up with a different approach, in terms of the challenge.
On Shami, and managing fast bowlers..
I'm really happy for Shami. Coming back after 18 months is not easy. The way he has come back and bowled aggressively, yesterday I thought he bowled the best spell that I have seen, a fast bowler running in and right through the Test. Even today in the last session he was running and bowling at 140. That says a lot about his fitness and his motivation to come back as well. It's not easy for a fast bowler after an injury, I'm really pleased that he has come back. He's an important cog for us. We don't want to look too far ahead. The workload is something we are aware of. The last Test in Antigua the bowlers bowled back to back, we try and take workload in training sessions with respect to what happened in the match. So far it has worked really well and I'm really happy for Shami that he has come back really well. He's important to us.
Shami's bouncer more effective?
I think he feels a lot stronger now and his rhythm has been good. The problem was with his knee which was affecting his run up. Once that was sorted and he was fit and came back, fast bowling is all about rhythm and the run up. Once he got the rhythm I think the confidence came back. We've seen from the start of the Antigua Test to now, his confidence is far greater. That's because he has a lot of overs under his belt.
Different plans, reassess for St Lucia?
There's nothing as tail or top order. You try and put together a plan for every batsman. You try and execute that. What we have done really well is knock the top off really quickly. That is certainly something we will discuss, as to how we get the last three or four. At the end of it, it's about picking 20 wickets. I'm very happy with the effort put in by our bowlers. Let's not take credit away from the West Indies batsmen. They put up a really good fight, they showed a lot of character and they had a different approach as well when they came in to bat. These are the things we will look at. I don't know what conditions we will get in St Lucia, once we get there and look at the pitch we will decide what kind of approach to take.
What did the boys learn?
If everything happened just how we thought it would, life would be very easy. In the morning we were keen to win the Test and confident that we could. At Tea when they were 15 ahead, and there were 30 overs left, we still felt that we could win the game. We approached it like that. The approach that we want to win does not change at any stage. But, yes, you're right, there's plenty to learn from this game. When you bowl on the last day, trying to win a match and get only 2 wickets bowling almost 90 overs, you will learn things. We will sit and talk about this, the game has just ended and we have five days before the next Test. We will talk about all these things.
