West Indies coach Ottis Gibson said his side missed a golden opportunity on Tuesday to put India under pressure in the first Test
West Indies coach Ottis Gibson said his side missed a golden opportunity on Tuesday to put India under pressure in the first Test.
But he felt they still had a chance to fight back and win, and would need to seize the crucial moments in the remaining time in the game.
"We still have a great opportunity to restrict India, and if we can restrict them to anything below 250 or 280, it's still a great run chase for us," he said.
Harbhajan Singh celebrates after taking the wicket of West Indies'
Carlton Baugh on Day Two of the first Test on Tuesday. Pic/AFP
"Perhaps, India hold a slight advantage. They have the runs on the board, but we have seen that we can take wickets."
West Indies conceded a first innings lead of 73, when they were dismissed for 173 in their first innings about 25 minutes before tea on the second day at Sabina Park.
By the close, the lead had been extended to 164, as India reached 91 for three in their second innings. "If we can get some early wickets (on Wednesday), and restrict them, despite the pitch is sometimes looking a good batting surface, and other times, its looks like it's doing a lot.
"But we are still in there, and we have to be a lot tougher in the crucial situations."
Gibson found it hard to explain his side's constant batting collapse, which have eroded their confidence in recent matches. He said there are few issues with the way the players prepared, but they weren't transporting their hard work into performance when it counted on matchdays.
"Our batting has been a real problem," he said. "We have managed to win a Test match against Pakistan, getting 20 wickets, but we have just not been able to put together big scores. The batsmen are working quite hard in the nets. There is not much more we can do about the way we practice and prepare for games.
"It's just about people going out and having a mindset about batting for a long period of time. We have a chance to play against an Indian attack that's not the greatest with someone like Zaheer Khan missing, so it's an opportunity for our players to make bigger scores."
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