debutant opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and captain Rohit Sharma scored an unbeaten half-century as India kept their upper hand by scoring 146 runs without losing wickets in the first innings till lunch on the second day of the first cricket Test against the West Indies here on Thursday. Even after lunch, both were seen in rhythm and took the team’s score past the score of 150 in West Indies’ first innings. There has been a partnership of more than 150 runs between the two. At lunch, Rohit was playing on 68 while Jaiswal was playing on 62. During his 15th half-century, Rohit hit six fours and two sixes while facing 163 balls so far. Jaiswal had faced 167 balls till lunch and hit seven fours.
West Indies all out for 150
The pitch at Windsor Park has slowed down more and more balls are stopping and coming to the bat. The Indian batsmen did not take any unnecessary risks in the morning session. The team did not lose any wicket during this period but scored only 66 runs. Off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall (22 runs without a wicket) and left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican (34 runs without a wicket) did not give the Indian batsmen a chance to bat freely but failed to take wickets. Due to the slow arrival of the ball from the pitch, India’s openers had no problem in defensive batting.
Openers scored half-centuries
Jaiswal, who started the day with 40 runs, completed his half-century in the morning session with his first four. He scored four runs with a pull shot on fast bowler Alzarri Joseph. The best shot of the morning session came from the bat of Rohit Sharma who hit Joseph for a six over mid-wicket. After hitting Warrican for a four off the square cut, he also made his full toss see the boundary. Indian bowlers dominated the first day. The combination of pace and spin did not give the Caribbean batsmen a chance to recover and the entire team was piled on a total score of 150 on the very first day.
IND vs WI, 1st Test: India tightens grip on West Indies on day one, Ashwin and Jaiswal shine
Ashwin took 5 wickets
Ravichandran Ashwin got full benefit of his experience and he took the 700th wicket of his career. He dismissed five batsmen. This is Ashwin’s 33rd five-wicket haul in Test career. With this, he made another big record in his name. Ashwin is the only Indian bowler who has taken the wicket of both father and son of a country. Tagnarin Chanderpaul, son of former West Indies veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul, is the opening batsman of the Caribbean team this season. Ashwin bowled him. Earlier in a match in Delhi, Ashwin had also taken the wicket of Shivnarine Chadrapaul.
Ashwin does not get discouraged
Talking about his achievements, the Indian team’s star off-spinner says that the urge to continuously improve has taken him to new heights but this journey has been very tiring for him. After the end of the first day’s play, when Ashwin was asked about the long journey of international cricket and the ups and downs during this, he said, ‘There is no cricketer or human being in this world who has not been able to deal with such ups and downs. Have not passed When you face failure you have two options, either get depressed, talk about it and then complain and get frustrated. Or learn from it. That’s why I am such a person who constantly keeps learning from these things. He said, ‘Rather today (on my good performance), the best thing I will do on my good day is that I will eat good food, talk good things, talk to my family, go to bed and forget about all this.’
Ashwin did not get place in WTC final
Ashwin said, ‘When you have a good day, you know that you had a good day but there are also things on which you can work and improve them tomorrow. The constant pursuit of excellence is what has kept me in good stead, but it has also been exhausting.’ He said, ‘This journey has not been that easy either. This journey has been very tiring for me but I am very thankful for all those failures because without them success is not possible. Recently, he was not kept in the playing XI in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia, due to which he was quite disappointed. He said, ‘I have talked about it. It is very difficult for any cricketer when you get a chance to play in the WTC final but have to sit out in the end. But if I am sitting in the dressing room in despair, then what is the difference between me and another person.
