Roston Chase is not done yet, warns Windies coach Law

Stuart Law

"Cricket is played out there on the field, so anything is possible." This is what Roston Chase said when asked on the eve of the second Test here about the flak the West Indies had to face after their capitulation in the first Test at Rajkot.

Yesterday, Chase, 26, showed what he meant. His unbeaten 98 at stumps on Day One helped the West Indies bounce back from 113-5 to end the day at 295-7 as honours were shared.

It seems that Chase has a special liking for India. He first claimed a five-wicket haul and then smashed an unbeaten 137 as his heroic efforts in the second Test at Kingston in 2016 helped West Indies draw the match after India had taken a 1-0 lead in the four-Test series. Chase was hardly troubled by the Indian spin trio of R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav yesterday despite wickets tumbling at the other end.

West Indies' coach Stuart Law, who is in his penultimate assignment with the team before moving back to England, said Chase plays a lot of spin back in the Caribbean. "I think he understands spin. They face a lot of spin back in the Caribbean in domestic cricket. He has got a long reach; he takes half a stride and gets to the length of the crease. He uses that to his advantage, he is a clean striker of the ball. He loves fighting on the cricket ground," said Law.

"Chase has got good temperament. He is a fantastic cricketer. He is not done yet, he has done a reasonable job today and still needs to finish it off tomorrow," Law added.

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