New West Indies opener Leon Johnson has to contend with the fact that had he asked for a review of his dismissal, he might have gone on to secure a century on his Test debut.
The left-handed Guyanese batsman thrust into the top of the order in his first Test in Chris Gayle’s absence, top-scored with 66 as the home side had reached 246-3 at Beausejour Cricket Ground on the opening day of the second Test against Bangladesh.
Johnson, who faced 162 balls and struck five fours and a six in his 217 minutes of batting, was given out leg-before wicket and took too long to ask the umpire for a review.
Replays showed that the ball struck him on the line of the stumps but would have gone on to miss leg stump.
’I wasn’t very sure about going for the review and my partner wasn’t sure as well. I told myself that I did not want to waste one of the team’s review and did not want to just go for it immediately,’ said Johnson speaking about the dismissal.
Johnson, who added 143 for the first wicket with Kraigg Brathwaite, hit five boundaries in his 150-ball innings, agreed that he had already done all the hard work and had a great chance of making a much larger score.
‘The pitch got better for batting as the day progressed and I think there was a hundred for the taking. The bowlers generally bowled in good areas but batting was not difficult later on,’ said Johnson, who has recently become a Bangladesh specialist.
During Bangladesh ‘A’ team’s recent tour of West Indies, he scored four fifties, which helped him draw the attention of the selection panel, headed by a fellow Guyanese Clive LIoyd.
It took Johnson almost six years to get his first Test call-up having played the last of his three one-day internationals in 2008.
In a great similarity to former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, who had to wait for four years to play his international match after making his debut against West Indies in 1992, fellow left-hander Johnson also had a chance to follow in his footstep.
Sourav scored a century on his Test debut in 1996 and Johnson, who stepped out to hit Taijul for his first six of Test career in similar fashion to former Indian great, also had his chance before he wasted it for sheer foolishness.
The permissible period for seeking a review is 15 seconds but he took more time before he finally asked for it, prompting the umpires to turn down the request.
The 27-year-old opener kept some praise reserved for the bowlers as well.
‘I started a bit slower than I would normally do because the bowlers bowled in good areas and got assistance,’ he said after the first day’s play.
‘During my innings, I thought like an opener and give the bowlers their session or their hour before blossoming,’ said Johnson, who has now become the 300th Test cricketer for West Indies.
-With New Age input
