India dominated the first Test in Ahmedabad on Thursday, as was to be expected, with Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah combining to thrash the West Indies for a pitiful 162 before the in-form KL Rahul scored a calm half-century.
With an additional 41 runs behind them, the hosts reached 121/2 at stumps. On a day when rain briefly interrupted the proceedings, Siraj (4/40) and Bumrah (3/32) were the masterminds behind India’s dominant performance.
India skipper Shubman Gill was batting on 18 (42 balls, 1x4s) with Rahul, who hit the first fifty of the series, at 53 off 114 balls with six fours.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (36) fell shortly after his opening 68-run partnership with Rahul and B Sai Sudharsan (7) ended, but the hosts were mostly on top on the first day of this two-Test match series.
Jaiswal, who possesses nearly every shot in his repertoire, approached the innings patiently, scoring his first boundary after 37 deliveries. But before he fell, he turned up the fire, hitting six more over the following sixteen balls.
After breaking free, Jaiswal struck seven fours in a quick run from a calm start of 4 off 36 balls to 36 off 54 balls. He dealt solely in boundaries on both sides of the wicket. Jaiswal, however, paid the price for playing too many shots when he sliced one near his body, giving Shai Hope an outside edge behind the wickets off Jayden Seales.
No. 3 Sudharsan (7) could not even have enough time to give himself a chance if Jaiswal was unable to convert his start. After failing to react to a second run in the 24th over due to his partner’s lack of attention, Sudharsan was unharmed by a mix-up between the wickets with Rahul, but he was dismissed by West Indies captain Roston Chase in the following over.
As he attempted a pull shot against the off-spinner, Sudharsan misjudged the length of the ball, it pitched in line of the stumps and struck him on the back leg. While playing the shot, Sudharsan was hunched over and missed the connection entirely and left without considering a review.
Rahul, however, overcame some early difficulties with the new ball to come on top. He paced his innings to hold one end steadily because India had enough time and was not in a rush to force the inevitable.
The surface offered more assistance with the new ball, as West Indies pacer Jayden Seales unsettled the Indian openers, frequently beating the outside edge and testing their confidence with the extra bounce he extracted.
Some of Johann Layne’s first deliveries, however, were splashed down the leg side, and he took his time settling down from the other end.
Earlier, Mohammed Siraj (4/40) helped India bowl a struggling West Indies out for 162 just before tea, but he missed a well-earned five-for.
Siraj took three wickets in a deadly seven-over performance in the opening session and another after lunch. Jasprit Bumrah looked to be getting back into his rhythm after hitting a few yorkers to take 14-3-42-3.
Kuldeep Yadav (2/25), who had earlier bowled a brilliant delivery to dismiss Shai Hope in the morning session, wrapped up the innings by trapping Jomel Warrican (8) caught behind off a reverse sweep attempt.
The West Indies were swept out in 44.1 overs on a surface that seemed to have softened out a bit from the morning session when the new ball was in play, resulting in an early tea.
