WI vs IND: Five memorable moments from first Test

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  • India won the first Test convincingly

    The first Test of the four-match series between India and West Indies ended with India securing a very comfortable victory, hardly breaking a sweat in the progress.

    From Virat Kohli’s first Test double century to Mohammed Shami’s successful comeback into the Indian side, this match threw up many memorable moments and here we take a look at five.

    RAVICHANDRAN ASHWIN’S FIVE WICKET HAUL

    Ashwin celebrates his five wicket haul

    Ashwin celebrates his five wicket haul

    While there’s nothing unique about an Ashwin five-for – this one was his 17th in just 33 Tests – yesterday’s spell will go down as one of his most celebrated ones, coming as it did outside the subcontinent, where he has struggled massively in all his previous outings.

    With the critics breathing down his neck, Ashwin needed a performance like this to prove that he is the world-class spinner India believe him to be, that he can take wickets even in conditions not traditionally conducive to spin bowling. Bowling with patience, which he had said would be the key here, Ashwin mixed his pace well, varied his flight intelligently, kept at it and was justly rewarded in the second innings after going wicketless in the first.

    India and Ashwin would hope that this is not a one off, that he keeps churning out performances like this one to help India win overseas Tests.

    MOHAMMED SHAMI’S FOUR-WICKET HAUL ON RETURN

    Shami made a successful comeback into the Indian side

    Shami made a successful comeback into the Indian side

    Mohammed Shami had been India’s premier fast bowler since his debut in 2013 until injury struck him in the early part of 2015. In his absence, India lacked a proper seamer to support Ishant Sharma, and to break partnerships regularly. Luckily, the series against Sri Lanka and South Africa didn’t have much of a role for the pacers and thus Shami wasn’t missed too much.

    However, in this series against West Indies in their backyard, India needed Shami back. And they needed him to hit his straps immediately. His four-wicket burst on the third day ticked all the boxes. He was aggressive, he swung the ball, he moved it off the pitch, he bounced batsmen, he was accurate, he bowled longish spells and he was quick.

    Even though this was not his best spell, the fact that he bowled like that in his first international match in 15 months augurs well for Indian cricket and they would want him to carry on in the same vein in the upcoming games.

    RAVICHANDRAN ASHWIN’S CENTURY

    Ashwin scored a century against his favourite opposition

    Ashwin scored a century against his favourite opposition

    That the Indian middle order is very inexperienced and unreliable is no secret. It is made even more fragile by captain Virat Kohli’s belief in playing five specialist bowlers overseas, particularly as wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha is yet to prove himself as a capable Test batsman. Thus, when Kohli promoted Ashwin to No. 6, there was a lot hinging on the move.

    India needed Ashwin to score some runs to justify their faith, or rather gamble, considering he had been in pretty shoddy batting form over the past year. And he delivered, scoring his third (and by far his best) Test century – all of them having come against the West Indies.

    Batting for the first time above No. 8, Ashwin looked completely at ease and batted like a proper batsman would, playing second fiddle to Kohli before opening up after his dismissal. Spread over 340 minutes and 253 balls, this could surely go down as a career-defining innings for Ashwin and a tactical masterstroke for Kohli and coach Anil Kumble.

    VIRAT KOHLI’S DOUBLE CENTURY

    Kohli scored the first double century of his career

    Kohli scored the first double century of his career

    Over the previous seven months, Virat Kohli has managed to establish himself as a limited overs great. However, the same cannot be said about Test cricket. And there is still some way to go before people speak about Kohli the Test batsman in the same breath as Kohli the limited overs batsman.

    An average of just 44, which although pretty good, seems mediocre by his lofty standards, along with a century after almost every four matches (before this innings he had 11 centuries in 41 Tests) seem to be the statistics of a man yet to reach his peak.

    To provide a glimpse into what that peak might be, and bringing his one day greatness into the Test match arena, Kohli scored a wonderful double hundred, becoming the first Indian captain to do so overseas. Mixing caution with aggression, defence with attack, Kohli played an innings as beautiful as Antigua itself, taking India to a massive first innings total which ensured they would not need to bat again.

    This innings, which was somewhat surprisingly also his maiden first class double hundred, will most likely mark the ascent of Kohli’s climb to the the pinnacle of Test batsmanship which almost everyone believes he would scale in the next couple of years.

    INDIA’S FIRST WIN OUTSIDE THE SUBCONTINENT UNDER VIRAT KOHLI

    Virat Kohli captained his fast bowlers efficiently

    Virat Kohli captained his fast bowlers efficiently

    Even though this victory came against the lowly ranked West Indies, it marks an important chapter in the redemption of Indian Test cricket, under the aegis of Kohli. This victory shows that India can win by playing just five specialist batsmen, a high risk ploy not many captains would ever opt for.

    It shows a refreshing change from a highly defensive to a highly positive mindset, from not not wanting to lose to wanting to win. This victory, no matter how easy the opposition, would give the young Indian team and it’s highly excitable young leader a boost in confidence, a message that they can win outside Asia, that they can do so regularly. It may not seem too big a deal now, but few years down the line, this may well be considered the match that started India’s rise to the top of international Test cricket.

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