“Going into any match I assess the batsmen in the opposition to see if I have dismissed them before”, said Ashwin after the day s play.
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While former West Indies cricketer Ian Bishop commented that Ashwin, who has got all his three Test centuries so far against the West Indies, should perform against other nations as well with the bat to be considered a proper all-rounder, Kapil feels the Tamil Nadu cricketer has already proven his credentials.
Ashwin broke through that partnership before lunch and then proceeded to take his 18th five-wicket haul in 34 Tests. Giving company was Cheteshwar Pujara batting on (18 batting).
However, KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan got India off to a ideal start with an 87-run opening stand. Rahul was the main contributor in that partnership, as he hit 10 boundaries in a knock of 75 not out.
Watch highlights of the fourth and final day of the first West Indies vs. India Test match in the video below.
# Just four Indian spinners have produced three five-wicket hauls in a Test series outside the subcontinent – Subhash Gupte, Bishan Singh Bedi, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Anil Kumble.
Ashwin’s brilliance had triggered the West Indies to collapse from 3-88 to 9-158 in space of 20 overs and it took some uneducated slogging by last wicket pairing of Miguel Cummins and Shannon Gabriel to propel the score to 196.
# KL Rahul’s unbeaten 75 is the third highest by an Indian opener, playing in his first innings vs West Indies in West Indies, next only to the 96 by Ajay Jadeja at St. John’s in 1996-97 and Shikhar Dhawan’s 84 at North Sound in 2016.
Samuels, batting at number four for the Windies, defended grimly early, taking 30 balls to get off the mark. He made one in Sri Lanka which is very very memorable.
Bravo s weakness outside the off-stump was then immediately capitalised upon, the left-hander failing to cover a full-length delivery properly for a delighted Indian captain Virat Kohli to take the catch at second slip.
Ishant Sharma removed Kraigg Brathwaite and Darren Bravo off successive deliveries in just his second over.
The West Indies Cricket Board and the governing body of the team which consists of the six cricket associations of Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Leeward Islands and Windward Islands.
A late surge from the last pair added 38 runs. He played some attacking shots as well, including a cut six off Umesh Yadav (0-30), though he was tight enough in his defence too.
Talking about how the pitch played on day one, Ashwin said, “A little bit of bounce and speed variation, that was important I thought”.
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India didn’t seem to have any answers to this assault, and both spinners had been introduced within 17 overs, with Mishra coming on to bowl as well.
