India were in a position of command against West Indies at the end of Day 2 of the second Test at Jamaica on Sunday, as KL Rahul yet again made full use of an opportunity handed to him, scoring his third Test century on his way to a well-composed 158. The visitors ended the day's play with a commanding lead of 162. There were handy runs from Cheteshwar Pujara (46) and skipper Virat Kohli (44), too, even as Jason Holder's men put up a much improved display from Day 1.
Rahul and Pujara came in with a plan but the West Indian bowlers posed some uncomfortable questions in the first session. India's No 3 did not score a single run for nearly an hour. Rahul though latched on to every bad ball that was on offer, ensuring that he was getting on top of the deliveries every time he freed his arms.
For the second time in the week, a batsman got to his hundred with a six. Sri Lanka's Kusal Mendis had also managed to achieve the feat against Australia earlier in the week. Rahul, along with the watchful Pujara, negated the threat posed by the pacers earlier in the day before stepping out to spinner Roston Chase while batting on 96.
However, Pujara ran himself out on 46, which brought the Indian skipper into the middle. Kohli, though, was a little more conservative than he was when he amassed his first double century in Antigua in the first Test.
Fast bowler Shannon Gabriel troubled the Indian skipper outside the off stump and had a close shout for leg-before turned down. They reaped the rewards a little later, sending Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin back to the pavilion in the final hour of the day's play.
Ajinkya Rahane, after failing to make it count in the first Test, was calculative, not dissimilar to the other Indian batsmen. Wriddhiman Saha gave him company at the close of play. Pujara's approach came under scrutiny and his alarming lack of runs (156 from his last six outings) has yet again made him vulnerable. Indians do have a selection headache of sorts when first choice opener Murali Vijay comes back from injury.
Brief scores:
West Indies 196 (Jermaine Blackwood 62, Marlon Samuels 37; Ravichandran Ashwin 5/52, Mohammed Shami 2/23) trail India 358/5 (KL Rahul 158, Cheteshwar Pujara 46, Virat Kohli 44; Roston Chase 2/91) by 162 runs.
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