Jaffer, Dasgupta shine in drawn match
Ashish Shukla in St Lucia (Grenada)
Wasim Jaffer and Deep Dasgupta finally came good with the bat to earn the Indians a comfortable draw after being forced to follow-on in a three-day tour match against Busta XI.
Both Jaffer and Dasgupta struck fine half-centuries as the Indians finished the third and final day on Sunday at a respectable 158 for 2 after being bowled out for 150 in their first innings.
Jaffer and Dasgupta, both claimants for the second opener's slot to partner Shiv Sunder Das in the Test side, made up for their failures in the first innings and added 101 for the second wicket to ensure their team did not suffer a collapse for the second time in the match.
Jaffer was out in the final session of play for a well-made 62, while Dasgupta remained unbeaten on 54. Ajay Ratra remained unbeaten on 29.
The Indians, who had fallen 287 runs short of Busta XI's 437 in the first innings, got an early scare when Das was out for nought off the fourth ball of the innings. But Jaffer and Dasgupta applied themselves well and batted comfortably.
Jaffer, a specialist opening batsman expected to bring an end to experimentations at the top of the order, staked his claim with a patient 156-ball knock that contained seven hits to the fence. He was finally dismissed by Gareth Breese when the batsman holed out to Darren Ganga.
Dasgupta, who has had more success as an opener than as a wicketkeeper, also seemed to have struck form ahead of the third Test. He faced 188-balls and hit five fours.
But some sheen was taken away from their innings by the decision of Busta XI not to use their two frontline bowlers, Pedro Collins and Dinanath Ramnarine, after both were included in the squad for the third Test starting in Barbados on May 2.
Collins bowled just four overs, while Ramnarine, who claimed four for 49 in the first innings, sent down 10.
The 13-member West Indies squad announced on Sunday also included Busta XI captain Ridley Jacobs in place of wicketkeeper Junior Murray, who has only one run from the three innings in this series so far.
PTI
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