Kolkata, Oct 30:
The focus was on pace bowling even as Shivnarine Chanderpaul, eyeing his 150th Test, worked hard on his batting when the West Indies today had their first full-fledged practice session on the eve of their three-day practice match against UPCA starting here tomorrow.
All their bowlers worked overtime, while Chanderpaul batted an extra session at makeshift nets outside the ground. The visiting team trained for more than two and half hours in the afternoon at the Jadavpur University Saltlake Campus ground.
Like Tendulkar, who is approaching a record 200th Test, the senior-most Windies batsman Chanderpaul is also awaiting a milestone in the second Test in Mumbai where he’s all set to appear in his 150th Test.
With 148 Test caps, Chanderpaul has already eclipsed Courtney Walsh (132) as the most-capped West Indian and the 39-year-old would certainly look to make it memorable in the two Tests termed as Tendulkar’s farewell series.
Chanderpaul, in fact, played a stellar role by scoring one unbeaten double century (203) and another unbeaten century (150) to win two Tests in Bangladesh.
In his last Test too, Chanderpaul has a hundred to his name against Zimbabwe as the Windies have landed here on a six-match winning run.
Before coming to India, Chanderpaul also had a fine county stint with three consecutive half-centuries for the first division club Derbyshire.
With the outfield damp, the team could not practice at the JU Saltlake Campus ground and was forced to train at Sourav Ganguly’s academy nearby.
The practice starting tomorrow was originally scheduled in Cuttack but heavy rains in Odisha meant that the match had to be shifted.
The West Indies will play two Tests and three ODIs in their tour of India. The second Test is scheduled for November 14 at the Wankhede while the three ODIs will be played on November 21, 24 and 27. (PTI)
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