Virat Kohli may have scored more on the day, but it was Shikhar Dhawan’s innings of 84 runs that laid the foundation for India’s threatening score in the first Test against West Indies.
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No wonder then that Kohli went on to reach his 12th Test hundred, and his first in the West Indies.
Pujara’s demise brought in Kohli and the Indian skipper immediately stamped his authority on the proceedings, dominating the partnership and always looking to put an inexperienced and limited bowling attack under pressure. The two added 105 in 27.1 overs; the previous 74 runs had taken 27.4 overs.
“He has played a tremendous knock and scored a hundred and continued scoring”, Dhawan said.
Last but not the least, Kohli just went past 3000 runs in Test cricket.
“I think this is a very good pitch”.
Limited overs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Wednesday said he doesn’t see any major alterations in India’s batting order, when the Virat Kohli-led side takes on hosts West Indies.
His next 50 runs came at an even quicker rate and his century included eleven boundaries.
The West Indies selectors have taken the bold step of dropping experienced wicketkeeper-batsman Denesh Ramdin for Shane Dowrich, who made his Test debut as a specialist batsman against Australia in Dominica a year ago.
The execution was near flawless before lunch. Dhawan had the worse of exchanges, top-edging Holder before fending hopelessly four times in a row against Gabriel.
Carlos Brathwaite’s frustration got the better of him when he hurled the ball at Kohli following a firm straight drive back at the bowler, prompting the captain to give him a stern glare. The fastest came from 129 balls against New Zealand at Wellington in 2014. He said, “Yes. I felt sad and disappointed that I got out, especially, when I was set and scoring runs”. If it was the late cut at start – 14 runs off five attempts – he began to use his feet towards the end of the first session.
“No. At the end of day, whatever team we have to play with as a team, we have to play”. India had needed 86 runs from 15 overs with seven wickets in hand and Dhoni made a decision to play for a draw and keep the 1-0 series lead.
Acknowledging that opening an innings is the toughest job, Dhawan thanked Kohli and new coach Anil Kumble for backing him when reports of the in-form Lokesh Rahul replacing him in the playing XI surfaced. There was no seam, no unfriendly bounce, and the ball was too old to swing.
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Such is the gap in performance between the two teams that anything less than a 3-0 triumph by the Indians will see them lose rating points in their quest to close the gap on Australia at the top of the official worldwide Test rankings.
