1st Test: Kohli double, Ashwin ton put India in command
NEW DELHI: West Indies head coach Phil Simmons had said before the start of the series that his team had to show patience and perseverance against India to succeed; in a way hinting that his team might as well have to wait for India to commit a mistake. Two days in to the opening Test match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua, Simmons strategy to stick to one plan clearly did not work as India amassed 566 runs for the loss of eight wickets before declaring their innings. This is not to say India did not commit any mistakes. Five of the eight Indian wickets to fall were more of batsmen’s doing than WI bowlers working for a wicket.
There are some who make things easy, and there are some who make it easy for others. Virat Kohli undoubtedly makes batting look easy and unfortunately the West Indies bowling line-up made proceedings easy for India on Day 2 on Friday. Kohli ticked yet another milestone, his first Test double-ton – the only India captain to score 200 overseas – and Ravichandran Ashwin peppered his batting average with his third Test hundred – all of which have come against the hosts. Wriddhiman Saha scored a brisk 40, Amit Mishra helped himself to his fourth Test fifty and the Indian innings contained four fifty-plus stands and two 100-plus partnerships.
With Shannon Gabriel as the lone specialist fast bowler and Devendra Bishoo as the only spinner, in a pitch that was placid at best for the batsmen, Windies struggled. Bishoo bowled a staggering 43 overs in India’s first innings with no real support from the other end. Two seasons back, it was such long spells that had contributed to Bishoo’s shoulder tear and cost nearly two years of his career. Jason Holder and Carlos Brathwaite unfortunately only managed lived up to their tag of being allrounders, bowling 49 overs between them without any success.
Such light arsenal in the bowing front meant it was a merry day for India, especially Ashwin. Kohli started the day on 143 and there was no doubt that he will get to his double hundred and he did that with a near chanceless knock in the morning session. However, a lapse in concentration right after the break cut shot the Indian captain’s innings on 200.
Signs of pitch slowing down started to show as Gabriel’s second delivery in the first over after lunch that was outside off kept a bit low and Kohli, who had hit such deliveries earlier towards extra cover with aplomb for boundaries, managed a thickish inside edge that crashed on to his stumps. Kohli failed to add to his 200 that he got in the first session. The Kohli-Ashwin association of 168 came to an end. Gabriel barely celebrated.
Ashwin then took center stage. In the company of Saha, Ashwin cruised along. The duo got together for 71 runs, and the intent to score quickly was visible. WI bowlers looked hapless and they merely went through the motions as Ashwin kept on finding the boundaries, notching up his hundred with a whip towards midwicket and raised his bat with a huge smile. Wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich would have enjoyed that moment the least as he was the one who dropped the centurion in the first session on 43. Simmons had emphasized on making India’s mistake count, Dowrich couldn’t capitalize and Windies were paying the price.
Dowrich, playing only his third Test, in a bid to celebrate, grassed a regulation take early in the day after Ashwin chased after a wide delivery from Gabriel. Gabriel went on to beat Ashwin’s bat couple of occasions later, but he survived and then thrived. Saha looked positive during his stay 88-ball stay but was out stumped to part-timer Kraigg Brathwaite. In a bid to score quickly, Ashwin (113) perished soon after hoisting one to long-on. Gabriel took a good catch. Mishra then provided the comic respite on the otherwise dour proceedings. He charged to half trackers, tried the reverse sweep, slog sweep and the paddle. He connected a few, missed a lot but did enough to score 53 off 66. He became K Brathwaite’s third victim and the declaration was done.
One could easily assess the lifelessness of the pitch as India’s pace trio and Ashwin seldom troubled the West Indies’ young opening pair of K Brathwaite (11*) and Rajendra Chandrika (16) during the tricky final hour of play. However, Shami got the breakthrough, one over before the close of play, with an outside off delivery that was pushed by Chandrika to wicketkeeper Saha.
Brief Scores : West Indies 31/1(Chandrika 16; Shami 1/6) trail India 566/8d (Kohli 200, Ashwin 113, Dhawan 84; K Brathwaite 3/65) by 535 runs
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Source:TOI
