India romped to their biggest win in away Tests (by runs) in their first match of the World Test Championship at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua.
India is on its way with 60 points in their kitty. This was an easy win for the Men in Blue on this sluggish deck. They grinded it out in the first innings to reach a respectable total and then the bowlers came to the fore and helped India get a lead of 75 runs. Then they went on to bat West Indies out of the game.
Virat had only lost a single test in which he had won the toss and this trend continued. Kohli also became the joint most successful Indian captain along with MS Dhoni with 27 wins. Moreover, he overtook Saurav Ganguly to become the most successful Indian captain in away tests with 12 wins in his pocket.
Here are three talking points from the first test match of the series:
Bumrah’s Lethal Weapon
Jasprit Bumrah
Jasprit Bumrah is one of the most difficult bowlers to face because of his unusual release and action. His natural delivery is to move the ball into the right handers. But, he has added one more weapon to his arsenal. Bumrah used his newly found outswingers to devastating effect in the second innings of the match. The Mumbai Indians pacer picked a fifer and helped skittle West Indies for a meagre 100 runs.
On his way, he also became the fastest Indian pacer to take 50 test wickets. He reached there in 11 tests. Bumrah also became the first Asian bowler to grab a five-wicket haul in South Africa, England, Australia and the West Indies, that too in his first tour to all these countries.
Ajinkya Rahane’s redemption
Ajinkya Rahane
Before this test, Rahane’s place in the side was doubtful. He had looked scratchy and had not scored a test century for two years. But Rahane proved his doubters wrong and scored 183 runs in the test with a century and a fifty plus score.
Jinx, as he is fondly known, scored his 10th test century and was adjudged the man-of-the-match for his contribution. India’s test vice-captain is one of the most consistent Indian batsman when it comes to overseas tours. With the onset of World Test Championship, India needed its number five batter to come up good. Hopefully this match-winning performance is one of the many to come and will keep India in good stead for reaching the finals.
Woeful performance by West Indies batsman
Shai Hope
West Indies recorded its lowest score against India in tests. There wasn’t even a single fifty plus score by a West Indies batsman. Their batsmen looked clueless against the troika of Indian pacers. The batsmen showed no grit and willingness to spend time at the crease. The technique and temperament is coming into question and they are not up to the task.
The top order failed again and conceded a first innings lead. From there onward, it was always going to be an uphill task. Only Roston Chase showed some resistance and reached the highest score by a West Indies batsman.
West Indies is languishing eighth in the ICC Test ranking. This tells a lot about the state of test cricket. Much more emphasis is being given to white ball cricket and the purest form of the game has taken a back seat.
West Indies defeated England in their previous test series they played and can’t be taken lightly. Hopefully, they raise their quality of cricket and show ample amount of patience and grit to give a fight to the the World’s No. 1 ranked test team in the second match of the series.
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