Ashish Ranjan
The first Test between India and the West Indies was memorable for the debutants, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan, and Alick Athanaze of India, and Alick Athanaze of the West Indies. Kishan, who performed admirably behind the stumps, might disagree, especially after what transpired when he strode out to bat for the first time in red-ball cricket during the third day’s second session at Windsor Park in Dominica.
Similar to Jaiswal, who required 17 deliveries to score his first run, Kishan also took his time to get started. Kishan lacked Jaiswal’s patience and tenacity, for which he was universally praised. The wicketkeeper-batsman endured the ire of the captain, Rohit Sharma.
From the locker room, Rohit was seen making animated hand gestures while Kishan exhibited little motivation to continue. Kishan is not the only player who takes a while to collect runs. In reality, virtually all Indian batters labored with scoring rates. None of the Indian batsmen who reached double figures had a strike of 50 or more. Jaiswal and Rohit, who both scored centuries, had modest strike rates of 44.18 and 46.60. This was primarily due to the slowness of the pitch and the outfield.
Due to the difficulty of scoring, it took Virat Kohli 81 balls to make his first four during his 76-run innings, and he celebrated each time he did so. Then what did Kishan do wrong?
After Kohli was dismissed for 76, it appeared, based on the reaction of Rohit Sharma, that India would declare. And Kishan was possibly given the responsibility of scoring rapid runs. However, it took the left-handed batsman twenty balls to make his first run in Test cricket.
And when he eventually scored that run, Rohit Sharma summoned him and Ravindra Jadeja (37*) back to the pavilion. India’s score at that point was 421/5, with a lead of 271 runs.
There was still a considerable amount of time remaining in the match, but one of the primary factors for Rohit’s early declaration may have been the nature of the pitch. Yes, it was turning, but so slowly that the batters were able to adapt with patience. Rohit, anticipating that Ashwin and Jadeja may require additional time to take out West Indies in their second innings, declared India’s innings with approximately 40 minutes remaining before Tea.
India has total command of the 1st Test.
India took the wickets of West Indies openers Kraigg Brathwaite (7) and Tagenarine Chanderpaul (7), proving the decision to be correct.DRS revealed that Jadeja’s ball that turned from the middle stump had clipped the top of Chanderpaul’s leg stump when it caught him in front.
As he guided a straighter ball to Ajinkya Rahane at first slip, Brathwaite had little idea of what Ashwin’s cunning plan was.After noon, Virat Kohli (76 off 182) was the only India batter to be dismissed. After being dropped in the first over after the break, Kohli did not last long before falling prey to off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall’s snare.
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The powerful spinner caused a ball to ricochet from middle stump, which Kohli ultimately flicked to the awaiting leg slip fielder.Earlier, Yashasvi Jaiswal became just the third Indian to score 150 on début, while Kohli struggled to reach 50 as the visitors reached 400 for four at lunch.
India lost Jaiswal (171) and Ajinkya Rahane (3) for 88 runs in 29 overs during the morning session after resuming the day at 312 for two.
