Nine’s Wide World of Sports
A freak dismissal, a maiden Test hundred, and a rueful shake of the head after a miscalculation – West Indies opener John Campbell went through a whole range of emotions in the space of two innings in the ongoing second Test against India.
Campbell's 177-run stand with fellow centurion Shai Hope is why West Indies managed to drag the second and final Test to its fifth day despite being made to follow on.
India need 58 runs on Tuesday to complete a 2-0 series sweep but could have accomplished that a lot earlier, especially after declaring their first innings on 5-518 and then bowling West Indies out for 248.
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Campbell managed 10 on Saturday before his bizarre dismissal when his full-blooded shot cannoned into the helmet grille of B Sai Sudharsan at forward short leg before neatly dropping into the cupped hands of the fielder trying to evade the ball.
Sudharsan immediately left the ground and spent significant time under medical observation.
Forced to follow-on, West Indies finally rediscovered their stomach to fight, courtesy of Campbell (115) and Hope (103), and posted 390 before being all out.
West Indies' John Campbell celebrates after scoring a century. AP
"It's a big positive for us," Campbell told reporters.
"Having not got the best first innings, we came out in the second innings and batted over 100 overs, so that's a big plus for us."
Campbell told the host broadcasters that the joy of registering his Test hundred was yet to sink in.
India's Mohammed Siraj reacts after beating West Indies' John Campbell. AP
The left-handed batter, however, was aghast at playing a reverse sweep against Ravindra Jadeja that led to his lbw dismissal.
"At that time I just thought a shot was on. Just a little bit of a miscalculation on my part," he said.
Campbell successfully reviewed an lbw decision against him and was on the right side of it on two other occasions in his eventful knock.
There was enough application in his approach as well.
The batter said he intentionally tried to plant his front foot across and outside the off-stump to reduce the risk of lbw dismissals.
"It's a little bit of luck getting the call on my side on those occasions. But definitely I was trying to get a good enough stride to get myself outside the line," he said.
Not being able to convert it into a 'daddy hundred' hurt him though.
"I never want to get out, but that's the nature of sport," Campbell added before explaining what the thinking was when he and Hope were batting together.
"We just wanted to bat as long as possible, that was always the plan. We got that start, so we wanted to take it as deep as possible."
The toil under the searing Delhi sun took its toll on India quick Mohammed Siraj, who collapsed after bowling a six over spell and got treatment from physios.
Cheeky commentator Dinesh Karthik had little sympathy.
"What we see right now is the fast bowlers being treated like kings after a hard spell," Karthik quipped.
Mohammed Siraj. Twitter
"It's the same case everywhere, by the way. I just need to let viewers know that it's not just on the ground, off the field, but also in the comm box. We've got to be careful when you do that with Bish (co-commentator Ian Bishop) though. The ice straight on the head to calm him down at times. For Bish and for Siraj."
India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate later tried to justify the decision to enforce the follow-on.
"There was a discussion to bat. Those last two wickets took a little bit longer than we would have hoped for, and had probably started going towards the space where you do look to bat again," ten Doeschate told reporters.
"But we felt it (270) was a good lead. We thought the wicket was going to keep deteriorating. We thought by the close of play it would be at its worst, but it just seems to have slowed down even more."
Writing for Wisden, Naman Agarwal criticised the decision.
"While it was a big enough lead, it wasn't the sort of margin on which follow-ons are usually enforced," Agarwal argued.
"In effect, India gambled on winning quickly rather than winning smartly. Against a team they had already outclassed, the upside of the approach was minimal while the downside, as it turned out, was significant.
"Coming right off the Asia Cup campaign, Jasprit Bumrah ended up bowling 31.5 overs – the third-most he has in a home Test – while the West Indies set India a target of 121, not far off the score India had failed to chase last year against New Zealand.
"India remain favourites to win this Test, but in choosing bravado over balance, they gave West Indies a window they never should have seen."
– with Sam Worthington
© 2025 Nine Entertainment Co.
'Bravado over balance': India made to suffer after cocky call backfires in second Test against West Indies – Nine
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