Jangoo ton helps depleted West Indies hold fort in Sylhet
With first-choice players missing out in West Indies' second Test outing against Bangladesh, responsibility fell on the less experienced players in the setup.
Amir Jangoo, in his seventh Test, and debutant Kevin Wickham were the stars of a resilient West Indies performance on the first day of the second Test of the ICC World Test Championship 2025/27 series in Sylhet.
West Indies suffered a blow even before the first ball was bowled in Sylhet, with John Campbell and Tagenarine Chanderpaul being ruled out due to a fever.
This forced them to bring in Joshua Da Silva and Kevin Wickham. For the latter, it was his Test debut.
"The coach [Daren Sammy] actually told me to stay ready because a few guys weren't feeling well last night," Wickham said in the post-match press conference.
"So basically it was just about getting set and ready for my mind, just in case the opportunity presents itself.
"This morning when I came to the ground, I was sitting in the dressing room and coach came to me and told me congratulations, I'd be making my debut."
Instead of Campbell, Da Silva took to the opening role with Brandon King. And it wasn't the best of starts for the tourists, as Taskin Ahmed and Hasan Mahmud ran through the top order, getting King (9), Da Silva (12), and Kavem Hodge (1), who was also promoted to No.3, in no time.
The reconstruction fell on the shoulders of debutant Wickham and Jangoo.
And it was under the guidance of the latter, that Wickham was able to shine on his debut, getting to 61 before Hasan cleaned him up.
But by then their stand of 131 runs for the fourth wicket had stabilised the West Indies.
"I think Jangoo is a very good asset to the team, And we know once Jangoo gets going, he goes very big. So I think Jangoo is an amazing talent and once he continues to play the way he is right now, I don't see much stopping him.
"It was easy for me to just bat and bat around him because he was scoring quite freely from the get-go. I think he did that very well."
Jangoo eventually got to his second Test ton, and is currently unbeaten on 111*, partnering Justin Greaves (35*) as West Indies sit at 235/4 in Sylhet. With Roston Chase and co. still to come, the tourists would target a total in excess of 300.
With Jayden Seales and Shamar Joseph in the ranks, West Indies have the pacers to extract any help out of the surface, while their battery of spinners led by Jomel Warrican have already proved that they can be handful in the Bangladeshi conditions.
