The second Test of the two-match series between Indiaand West Indies has seen the hosts enforce a follow-on and still bat at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi. While it seems highly probable that the Shubman
Gill-led unit will win the contest with 58 runs required on the last day with nine wickets in hand, the flow of events have not appeared in a long time as far as Tests in relation to India are concerned.
The previous occasion when this particular event occurred dates back to November 2012. It was the first Test between India and England, taking place at the Sardar Patel Stadium (now re-built and known as Narendra Modi Stadium) in Motera. Opting to bat after winning the toss, India batted the entire first day and the majority of the second to end up declaring on 521/8. Cheteshwar Pujara remained not-out on 206*, while Virender Sehwag registered a run-a-ball 117. Graeme Swann bowled 51 overs to end up with a five-wicket haul.
At one point, England were absolutely struggling at 69/5 in the 33rd over. Some crucial lower-order runs barring Matt Prior's 48 meant they were got to 191 at the time of getting bowled out. Pragyan Ojha secured a five-fer (5/45 in 22.2 overs) in front of his home crowd. Three of the top four English batters were snapped by veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
It was a much more spirited batting effort from the English unit in their second innings after MS Dhoni enforced the follow-on, and in particular, from Alastair Cook. He had missed out on his half-century by nine runs in the first innings. However, Cook did not miss out on the opportunity this time around. He racked up 176 off 374. Prior added to his 48 by scoring 91 in the first innings.
Lunch was taken on the fifth day when England were bundled out for 406. India took 15.3 overs to chase down the target. Pujara and Virat Kohli remained unbeaten on 41 and 14, respectively. Swann was the lone wicket-taker for Cook's side. India took the lead and Ojha was deservedly awarded the Player of the Match award for his match haul of nine wickets. However, this was the only game India won in this series, losing 2-1.