Daijiworld Media Network
Kolkata, Nov 7 : Today is a big day. Not only will India look to bat big, but there is every chance of Sachin Tendulkar coming out to bat. The 'Sachin masks' are ready and the crowd will await for the carnival to begin.
08:30 Local Time: It is Day 2 of the Kolkata Test. West Indies won a crucial toss but failed to make the most of it, bundled out for just 234 on a good batting surface. Marlon Samuels (65) was the only batsman to offer some fight, but he too failed to convert his start into a substantial knock. Debutant, Mohammed Shami had a dream start to his Test career, he ended up with figures of 4/71. The lack of application was evident amongst the West Indian batsmen with several players throwing away their wickets. On the other hand, the Indian openers started solidly to end proceedings at 37/0.
Ravichandran Ashwin: 'I think we did a good job on the whole. Shami was outstanding, and the others chipped in their bit. It was important to get a couple of early wickets, we got them. The wicket here usually helps the bowlers, we wanted to keep things tight and wait for them to make mistakes. It was satisfying to dimiss Chanderpaul, he has an unusual stance at the start, but gets into very good positions. It has been a dream to play with Sachin Tendulkar. I never thought I would share the dressing room with him for almost three years.'
Marlon Samuels: 'We were looking at 350-400. So very disappointed that we didn't get it. Nevertheless, we are going to come out hard. We were trying to bat session by session. After the ball changed, things changed. The first ball was not reversing but after the ball change it started to happen. It's a pretty good pitch. The ball is turning and the odd ball is keeping low. I'm enjoying my cricket and I have a big reputation to keep up now.'
It's been India's day all the way. Mohammad Shami's reverse swing turned the West Indies innings on its head. They were scuttled out for a low score on a good first day wicket. The Indian openers furthered that advantage by putting on an unbeaten partnership. The wicket looks to be a batting beauty and rest assured that there will be a huge crowd tuning into the game tomorrow. There is every chance that Sachin Tendulkar will walk out to bat sometime in the day.