A maiden double century by captain Virat Kohli – his first in any format of the game – and a century by Ravichandran Ashwin gave India the upper hand after the second day of the opening Test against the West indies.
In St John’s, Antigua, Kohli’s 200 and Ashwin’s 113 helped India reach 566 for eight before they declared. In reply, returning fast bowler Mohammed Shami removed opener Rajendra Chandrika for 16 as West Indies finished the day on 31 for the loss of one wicket.
Before this innings, Kohli was yet to score a 200, even at the first-class level. His previous best was 197 against Pakistan-based Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) in the Nissar Trophy – a tournament played for three sea- sons between India and Pakistan domestic winners.
By reaching 200, Kohli also became the only India captain to score a double century on foreign soil. The previous highest was 192 in Auckland in 1989 by Mohammad Azharuddin.
With the notable exception of Gabriel, all the West Indies bowlers were made to look pedestrian especially by the excellence of Kohli’s batting on a pitch that has almost nothing by way of encouragement in pace and bounce.
When ur on a heavy dose of T20 and ODI, it isn't easy to keep the concentration & hunger going for long...makes 200 even more special #kohli
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) July 22, 2016
His almost complete dominance of the bowlers extended through the morning as he continued to march his side forward at the expense of flagging opponents.
By the time he had fallen to Gabriel immediately upon the resumption in the afternoon, his six hours at the crease had seen him play 283 deliveries, striking 24 boundaries.
Ashwin made the hosts pay dearly for an early reprieve in completing a third Test hundred.
He was dropped on 43 by new wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich off Gabriel in the morning session.
He went on to add 168 runs for the fifth wicket with Kohli, a record partnership at Antigua.
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