The first Test match between India and West Indies will be remembered for the outstanding performances of debutants Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ishan Kishan for India, as well as Alick Athanaze for West Indies. However, Kishan’s experience at the crease during the second session of Day 3 at Windsor Park in Dominica was not as smooth as Jaiswal’s. Kishan took his time to score his first runs in red-ball cricket, much like Jaiswal who also took 17 balls to open his account. While Jaiswal’s patience and resilience were praised, Kishan faced criticism and received some frustration from captain Rohit Sharma.
Rohit Sharma was observed making animated hand gestures from the dressing room, expressing his displeasure as Kishan seemed hesitant to score runs quickly. Kishan was not the only one struggling to find scoring opportunities, as most of the Indian batsmen faced difficulties with their strike rates. None of the Indian batsmen who reached double figures achieved a strike rate of more than 50. Even Jaiswal and Rohit, who scored centuries, had modest strike rates of 44.18 and 46.60 respectively. The sluggish nature of the pitch and the slow outfield contributed to the challenging scoring conditions.
Scoring boundaries proved to be particularly challenging, as it took Virat Kohli 81 balls to hit his first four. He celebrated every boundary he managed during his innings of 76 runs. So, what did Kishan do wrong?
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From Rohit Sharma’s reaction, it seemed that India was considering declaring the innings after Kohli’s dismissal. Kishan might have been given the task of scoring quick runs. However, the left-hander took 20 balls to open his account in Test cricket.
When Kishan finally scored that run, a dissatisfied Rohit Sharma immediately signaled for him and Ravindra Jadeja (37*) to return to the pavilion. At that point, India was at 421/5, holding a lead of 271 runs.
Although there was still plenty of time left in the match, Rohit’s quick declaration could be attributed to the nature of the pitch. Despite the turn, the pitch was so slow that batsmen could adjust if they displayed patience. Anticipating that Ravichandran Ashwin and Jadeja might need more time to bowl West Indies out in the second innings, Rohit declared India’s innings with around 40 minutes remaining until Tea.
India had complete control over the first Test. The decision to declare proved to be correct as India dismissed West Indies openers Kraigg Brathwaite (7) and Tagenarine Chanderpaul (7).
Jadeja trapped Chanderpaul lbw with a delivery that turned from the middle stump, and the DRS confirmed that it was clipping the top of the leg stump.
Brathwaite struggled to comprehend Ashwin’s skills and edged a straighter delivery to Ajinkya Rahane at first slip.
Virat Kohli (76 off 182) was the only Indian batsman to be dismissed after lunch. After being dropped in the first over after the break, Kohli didn’t last long as he fell into the trap set by off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall.
Cornwall’s delivery bounced from the middle stump, and Kohli ended up flicking it to the leg slip fielder waiting for a catch.
Earlier, Yashasvi Jaiswal became only the third Indian player to score 150 on debut, while Kohli had to work hard for his half-century as India reached 400 for four at lunch, starting the day at 312 for two.
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