NEW DELHI: Day two of the second Test between India and West Indies promised to be a glorious batting day. The sky was blue, most of the West Indian bowlers were green and the Indian batters couldn't wait to fill their boots.
There was a sense of calmness when Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal strode out to the centre shortly before 9.30 AM. Both overnight batters knew they could notch up further milestones in what has already been a big year for the pair. For Jaiswal, a third double beckoned at the age of 23. For Gill, a first century as captain at home and a fifth ton in seven Tests.
That calmness went missing minutes into the first session when Jaiswal took off after hitting the ball straight to mid-off. He does have the tendency to go down a few strides but, on this occasion, he continued with his momentum. Jaiswal was already more than halfway down the wicket when he realised that Gill hadn't responded.
Tagenarine Chanderpaul identified the mix-up before throwing it to the keeper's end where Tevin Imlach just about managed to dislodge the bails without making a hash of it. A distraught Jaiswal hung around, willing himself to think this was all a nasty dream and his phone alarm would go off. He slapped the helmet with his right hand before forcing himself off the field of play. At the other end, Gill could barely believe what had happened.
However, this mode of dismissal has happened far too frequently over the last two years for anybody within the squad to be surprised. Since January 1, 2023, this was India's 17th run out. No team has suffered more run outs (Sri Lanka are next on the list with 15). A natural byproduct of this is that 12 of their batters have had at least one run out in this timeframe, again two more than Sri Lanka's 10.
Jaiswal himself has been no stranger to mix-ups in the recent past. In the fourth Test in Melbourne late last year, the southpaw hared off after hitting it to mid-on. Virat Kohli, the non-striker, turned the single down but by then, Jaiswal wasn't even in the same pin code. A partnership of 102 was nipped and the moment turned the match Australia's way.
The hosts are so far out in front in this particular game that Jaiswal's dismissal may not be a game-changing moment but this is a worrying trend. At Lord's in July, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant were involved in a needless run out incident and it ended up changing the complexion of the game.
"It shouldn't have happened," Rahul had said after the day's play. "A run out at that stage really changed the momentum. "It was disappointing for both of us. Obviously, nobody wants to throw their wicket like that." Captain Gill had attributed this particular run out to an error in judgment in the post match press conference. Gill himself misjudged a single during the fifth Test against England at The Oval when he ran after patting the ball next to Gus Atkinson. Atkinson, in his follow through, moved swiftly before firing a direct hit with Gill well short after he had turned around.
A further curiousness to this pattern is that out of the 17 dismissals, six have featured well-set batters (two on triple digits and four after passing their 50s). This issue has cost them multiple times in the recent past. A recurrence of this during next month's series against South Africa may prove to be problematic.
