PLAYS OF THE DAY
Day One began well for the West Indies before Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan steered it India’s way. Here is a look at the moments that defined the first day.
WHEN GABRIEL MADE DHAWAN HOP
The pitch wasn’t as responsive as many had said it would be, but the ball was new and Shannon Gabriel was bending his back. With the game just four overs old, Gabriel decided to test the Indian openers with a few snorters. Shikhar Dhawan however bore brunt of that assault. Dhawan found himself in an awkward position to a delivery that climbed up to his face. The ball got a leading edge but didn’t carry to point. Next delivery threatened to kiss Dhawan’s visor. Sniffing a chance, Gabriel added a short square leg and tried to target Dhawan’s ribcage. Dhawan was again found wanting.
SAMUELS’S ROLE IN RAHANE’S DISMISSAL
The scoreboard says Darren Bravo caught Ajinkya Rahane off Devendra Bishoo but it might not have happened had Marlon Samuels not dived spectacularly to stop almost a sure boundary off Kohli’s bat the previous ball. Batting on 98, Kohli was gifted an overpitched delivery that he beautifully drove through the covers. That should have ideally brought Kohli his century but a brilliant effort from Samuels meant that he had to be satisfied with just a single. Probably that rankled most on Kohli’s mind when he saw Rahane make a complete mess of the next delivery from Bishoo.
ASHWIN COMES AHEAD OF SAHA
In a largely predictable day for Indian batting, this was one move that came as a surprise. As wicket-keeper batsman, Wriddhiman Saha should have come ahead of R Ashwin but statistics say that the off-spinner not only has two Test centuries to his name but also has an impressive average of 31.68 in 32 matches. Saha on the other hand, averages 21.58 from 11 matches. Maybe Virat Kohli was swayed by this. And it worked well. Apart from contributing, Ashwin also gave Kohli the freedom to control the pace of the game in the last session. The strong partnership between the two set the tone of the second day. The duo continued to plunder before lunch on Day Two.