India eased to 132 for the loss of opener Virender Sehwag at lunch on the first day of the second Test against the West Indies at Eden Gardens on Monday.
Opener Gautam Gambhir (57) and Rahul Dravid (33) were at the crease at the end of the morning session, having added 66 runs for the second wicket after the hosts had won the toss and opted to bat.
Sehwag, hit by a Fidel Edwards bouncer on the back of his helmet in the third over, played a typically aggressive knock and added 66 for the opening wicket with Gambhir.
The dashing opener took a particular liking to Darren Sammy’s medium pace bowling and scored six out of his eight boundaries against the West Indies captain.
However, Sammy had the last laugh when he lured Sehwag into a mistimed drive straight into the hands of Adrian Barath at short mid-wicket after the batsman had compiled a breezy 38 off 33 deliveries.
Gambhir was more circumspect and brought up his 17th Test half-century with some fluent cover drives against the pacemen and nimble footwork against the spinners.
The left-handed opener and Dravid, who looked equally comfortable, are well set to build a solid platform for India to post a big first innings total.
West Indies made two changes to the team that lost the first Test by five wickets, bringing in paceman Kemar Roach for Ravi Rampaul, who was admitted to hospital with a stomach upset, while opener Barath replaced Kieran Powell.
The teams will play the third and final Test in Mumbai from November 22. — Reuters