India vs Windies, 1st Test, Day 1, Review: Prithvi Shaw's debut century highlights the proceedings in Rajkot

The two-match Test series between India and Windies got underway in Rajkot and as expected, the hosts dominated the proceedings after opting to bat first. Prithvi Shaw’s debut century was the highlight of the day as he smashed 134 runs off just 154 deliveries. The skipper Virat Kohli went about his business in the final session and remained unbeaten on 72 as India finished strongly at 364/4 as they look set to post a huge first innings total.

Earlier in the day, the visitors were dealt with a severe blow as Jason Holder sustained an ankle injury and was ruled out of the game. Kraigg Brathwaite came out of the toss only to lose it and his team was made to chase the leather for the whole day. Shaw opened the innings along with KL Rahul as the latter was pinned in front of the stumps in the very first over.

The ball jagged in considerably and the batsman prodded in front which put him in a tangle and was eventually hit in the front of the stumps. However, for some reason, Rahul wasted the review and was sent back for a duck.

Shaw, meanwhile, had begun to pile up the misery on some wayward bowling. He joined hands with Cheteshwar Pujara and punished the opposition. He unfurled some delightful strokes during his stay in the middle as India reached 133 runs in 25 overs in the first session. The youngster kept on attacking and reached his ton off the 99th delivery of his innings.

Kohli and Rahane calm things

The duo added 206 runs for the second wicket and at 209/1, Team India was looking good. But the debutant Sherman Lewis nipped out Pujara against the run of play who was set to make his 16th Test century. Nevertheless, his 86 runs were also decent as the batsman didn’t look in trouble whatsoever. Soon, Shaw also followed back after scoring 134 runs and the young lad was still disappointed as it wasn’t a wicket-taking delivery.

With the fall of two quick wickets, Windies were looking to take control of the proceedings but Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli didn’t lose their calm. Both of them played a few quiet overs and rebuilt the innings steadily. The latter didn’t look in any trouble. The likes of Devendra Bishoo and Shannon Gabriel bowled well during the period and made sure that the opponents earned every run.

They added 105 runs for the fourth wicket in as many as 33 overs and didn’t give away the early advantage. The run-rate which was hovering around six until the first 45 overs, came down drastically but that doesn’t matter in the longest format. However, Rahane was unlucky to lose his wicket to Roston Chase as he toe-edged an attempted cut shot to the wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich.

Rishabh Pant then came and played a few gutsy while facing Gabriel who steamed in with the new ball. He played a couple of ferocious pull shots and made a statement that he wasn’t playing for stumps. Eventually, the day ended with India’s score reading 364/4 after 89 overs and it proves that Team India dominated the day completely.

They would love to pile up more runs tomorrow and post a huge first innings total. Windies, on the other hand, will be looking to restrict them under 450 to give themselves some chance in the game.

Brief Scores

India 364/4 after 89 overs (P Shaw 134, C Pujara 86, V Kohli 72*; S Gabriel 1/66)

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