India maintained the winning spirit in the 2nd test match as well

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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When a team is in winning mode, it doesn’t know how to lose, while teams unfamiliar to victory somehow plot to let the advantage slip.

That’s what happened in the first one-dayer in Cuttack, when India had a bad day in office but still ended up on the winning side. TheWest Indies, who did much better than expected while shielding a low score, failed to raise their game at key moments and that cost them the match.

“India have won a lot of matches at home in the recent past. They’ve found a way to win even from desperate situations and that I believe is what makes them a dangerous team, “West Indies skipper, Darren Sammy has said on Thursday, the eve of the second ODI.

“We can take heart from the fact that we have administered to take the Indians to the wire. This will definitely give the team a lot of confidence. We too have to find a way to win. We are a young side and I believe in the potential of these players,” Sammy has told.

Confidence is a great thing but the skipper knows that it will take more than mere confidence to stop the Indians at a venue where they are yet to lose a game. India, meanwhile, have to guard against the kind of batting breakdown which nearly cost them the Cuttack game. Skipper, Virender Sehwag is hoping the depressing performance of the top order is just a jinx on the radar, and that his men will make best use of a traditionally batting-friendly strip.

Sehwag will be longing to get among the runs himself. Virat Kohli – who has a century against his name on this ground – and the likes of Suresh Raina and Gautam Gambhir would not like to be left behind. Rohit Sharma will be hoping his inspiring performance in Cuttack is the first of many.

The Windies batsmen, on the other hand, will have to somehow invoke up that intangible commodity called consistency. Barring Darren Bravo, the rest of the lot hasn’t really made use of their starts. Added to that is the incapability to tackle spin. They also need to come to terms with the pace of Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav, who have got India the early breakthroughs.

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