It ought to have been finished in three days. India had enforced the follow-on, and Kuldeep Yadav had already bagged the five-for, while Shubman Gill’s captaincy was applauded for its gallantry. Everything seemed to be going fabulously towards a certain triumph for India — until John Campbell and Shai Hope sought to scribble their own version of defiance on that. By the time stumps were drawn on Day 3, therefore, you had the rare spectacle in Delhi of the West Indies outliving the potency of India, not by brilliance, but by fighting it out. The riddle is not for how long they will hold out; rather, how do they all of a sudden find the courage to stand?
The Follow-On India Didn’t See Coming
India’s 518/5 (dec) was supposed to bury that contest before it had even begun. Kuldeep Yadav’s 5/72 consolidated India, who rolled the West Indies for 248 as Bumrah and Siraj added their pointy bits. A lead of 270 gave Gill no problems in enforcing the follow-on, a throwback to vintage Test match dominance. What followed, though, was not routine at all. From 34/2 to 173/2, Campbell and Hope (West Indies) added 139 for the third wicket, the best West Indies partnership in the record of seven Tests this year, and ready to give themselves the first fourth day in a Test in India, for six Tests. This was defiance by calculation and by slight rebellion.
The Calm Fury of Campbell and Hope
If Campbell’s 87 was about bravery of sorts, Hope’s 66 was about clarity of thought. The two suited each other like chalk and silk. Their body language was vital – less talk, more focus. When Sundar’s appeals turned to desperation, the smile and resolute nod gave much away – the little mental battles had been won. Western interest set a lot of store by the faint tendency of their opponents to cave in in the face of prolonged pressure, and also that they had found their backbone in their middle-order batting department.
Numbers That Redefined a Narrative
In their previous six Tests in India, the West Indies had registered the best third-wicket partnership of 47. Campbell and Hope in Delhi made that in one session. Using the singles (the rate of Campbell post-Tea was 56% for them) made the stranglehold of India’s spin ineffective. Kuldeep had (-not- at lunch) made 4 for 41 in his first spell, but got none in 13 overs of the next innings. That escape was not owed to luck; it was alteration. Nor could Bumrah, bowling around the wicket late in the day, manage to induce false strokes from the batsmen.
Echoes of 2011: When Defiance Became Dignity
There is an air of nostalgia here, reminiscent of Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Darren Bravo’s obstinacy in Kolkata (2011), when even the West Indies, too, had resisted the folding up, despite facing a follow-on. The partnership between Campbell and Hope rekindled that spirit of attritional Test cricket, in which patience is valued more than flair. For India, the echoes of complacency ring faintly familiar like the Sydney 2021 draw when the Indian bowlers too ran out of ideas as a result of a huge lead. As former coach Phil Simmons had once said, “West Indies cricket doesn’t lack talent, it lacks time.” This stand in Delhi might just be a first step to recovering that time session by session, over by over.
Key Takeaway
In Delhi, the West Indies didn’t win yet; they remembered how to fight.
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