Earlier, India won the toss and opted to bat first but found themselves in trouble when opener Murali Vijay (7) was dismissed in the seventh over of the innings. You can’t expect leaps and bounds, too much from a very young side.
Advertisement
As Mohammad Shami has come back to full fitness, it is most likely that he will take the place of Umesh Yadav and will partner Ishant Sharma in the test against the West Indies.
Virat Kohli celebrates 100 runs during day one of the cricket Test match between West Indies and India at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.
However, his dismissal of Pujara via a horribly miscued pull in the first over after lunch ushered in Kohli, who proceeded to transform the rest of the day into a testament to his ever-increasing stature as a batsman of the highest class.
Kohli was on 143 at the close of play, his 12th test century, as the visitors reached 302 for four. He played a flawless foil to Kohli as India ended day 1 on a dominant note. They have not even managed to get 50 runs opening partnership since 2015 in their 21 test innings and the biggest concern for them will be the spin attack of the Indian team because it is one of the best spin attacks in the world and WI players do not play the spin bowlers so well.
Dhawan, who has been long due for runs started vulnerably getting a thick edge off a short ball from Gabriel but survived only to flourish with a flurry of shots on the off-side. “You can’t count out a guy like Shikhar because of a couple of innings here and there”.
In his first spell of 4-2-6-1, Gabriel roughed up both Dhawan and Vijay.
The expected playing eleven for West Indies will be from- Kraigg Brathwaite, Rajendra Chandrika, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Jermaine Blackwood, Shane Dowrich(w), Jason Holder(c), Carlos Brathwaite, Devendra Bishoo, Shannon Gabriel, Roston Chase, Leon Johnson, Miguel Cummins.
“We are in a good position especially because we are playing with only five batsmen”. At the end of the day, it’s cricket. With Vijay going early, he had done his bit as opener and missing out on a century barely bothered him. “Hopefully he scores big runs and gets a double-hundred after 150”. “After that I moved on and it is important to do that”. “I feel it is important for any player if the captain and coach are backing you”. It gives a lot of confidence and belief. But once he got settled, there was no looking back as he kept the scoreboard ticking.
Virat Kohli, who took over the reigns from MS Dhoni in December 2014, has been in sublime form this year.
On the day, Dhawan certainly did was needed of him by the team.
Advertisement
Though he fell short of his century, Dhawan was pleased with the way he survived at the crease for so long. The statistical minded can lick this self-inflicted wound, but Dhawan won’t care if India can find a way to win this game.
