West Indies v India, 1st Test Day 1 - 5 Talking Points

The first day of the first Test between West Indies and India was clearly dominated by the visitors. India started the day by winning the toss and skipper Virat Kohli was clear that he wanted to bat first. They decided to go in with six batsmen and five bowlers a team combination that proves the change in focus of the Indian team. They are here to win and don’t mind taking the risk even if the batting looks a bit weak.

The West Indies bowlers bowled well in the first spell but as the ball got older and softer batting got easier. Half-century from Shikhar Dhawan and an unbeaten century by skipper Virat Kohli saw India close the day with 302 runs on the board for the loss of 4 wickets. Devendra Bishoo was the other positive for the home side apart from Shannon Gabriel who bowled his heart out in the first spell. Its advantage India at the end of day 1 but things weren’t so easy going. Here are the 5 talking points of the day.

1. India go in with 5 bowlers:

For a long time, Team India has adopted the strategy of fielding a batting heavy team and have relied on the all-rounder who has seldom been a specialist to take up the role of the 5th bowler. But skipper Virat Kohli right from the start of his tenure has made sure that he has enough bowling resources. On a wicket that looked good for the batsmen he picked Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin and Amit Mishra to do the job for him. Mishra was preferred ahead of Jadeja since West Indies have traditionally struggled against the wrist spinner and the leggie is a genuine wicket-take.

2. Gabriel tests the Indian openers:

The wicket at the Sir Vivian Richards stadium in Antigua had a spread of grass but wasn’t lively enough to scare the batsmen. West Indies opening bowler Shannon Gabriel bowled an intense first spell to push the Indian openers on the back foot. He bowled at fiery pace and tested both Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan with the short stuff. His first spell of 4-2-6-1 did give West Indies a good start with the ball. One could also see the discipline in his bowling and was patient while executing the plans. It soon paid off as he got the prized wicket of Vijay who was caught by Kraig Brathwaite at second slip. He didn’t have any further success but kept things quite from his end.

Also read – WI v IND, 1st Test Day 1 Review: Virat Kohli ton puts India ahead

3. Shikhar Dhawan’s committed knock:

Not many were in favor of him being included in the playing XI, but skipper Virat Kohli was certain he wanted the left-hander in the team and here Shikhar Dhawan was opening the batting against a West Indian fast bowler who was touching the 150 kmph mark time and again and was challenging him with the short deliveries. He wasn’t really comfortable to start with but was determined to stay there. While runs weren’t coming easy he ran harder between the wickets to keep the scoreboard ticking. As the ball got older and life became easier, he hit the same bowlers for boundaries and got to his half-century. The southpaw looked good for a big knock with skipper Kohli at the other end but fell leg-before to Bishoo while attempting a sweep shot.

4. Bishoo’s triple strike:

On the first day of a Test match, the faster bowlers are expected to get the team breakthroughs and set things up. But when everybody apart from Gabriel failed to get a wicket skipper Jason Holder handed over the ball to his leg-spinner. There was nothing much for Bishoo from the wicket but he kept doing his things right.

He first got the wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara right after Lunch caught by Karlos Brathwaite. His second was a big one as Dhawan attempted the sweep but was hit on the pads and had to walk back after scoring a well constructed 84-run inning. Ajinkya Rahane was expected to play a big part in the Indian batting, he has always loved batting abroad but he was Bishoo’s third scalp. It was a short ball that didn’t deserve the wicket but the ball stopped after pitching and Rahane was nowhere in his pull shot and all he managed was to find Darren Bravo at mid-wicket.

Also check out – Twitter Reactions: Virat Kohli slams a ton to lead India to a commanding position on Day 1

5. Virat stars the day with a ton:

Virat Kohli with the bat has been unstoppable in 2016. He had a great run right through the limited overs tournaments he played in and one expected him to carry the same form leading the Test side. He walked out to bat and made run-scoring look ridiculously easy on a wicket where the batsmen prior to him struggled to get going.

He hit the cover drives like he was batting in India but they did race to the boundary. West Indies tried the pacers, the spinners, and the part-timers but nobody had a delivery that could stop Virat. He had a good partnership with Dhawan for the 4th wicket, a short one with Rahane and an unbeaten 66-run stand with Ashwin. Virat batted with a lot of fluency and scored his 12th Test ton and the first against West Indies. More importantly, the Indian skipper was unbeaten on 143 at the end of day’s play with Ravi Ashwin as his partner at the other end.