India vs West Indies, 1st Test: 3 things learned from Day 1

The inaugural day of the 2-match Test series was completely dominated by India and they ended up at 364/4. The day began with a disappointing duck from Rahul on a good batting strip. But the teenage sensation Prithvi Shaw was in no mood to spare the West Indies bowlers and punished them hard for their undisciplined bowling, with a free-flowing century that came at a rate of just above run a ball.

Pujara played his natural game but made sure the bad balls were out away throughout his knock of 86. After Shaw’s departure, Rahane and Kohli combined for a decent partnership and the duo were barely troubled by the Windies bowlers. Rahane fell to Roston Chase just before the end of day 1 but Kohli remained unbeaten after another flawless batting performance. Here are the 3 things we learned from the day’s play.

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#1 Shaw’s brilliant stroke-making ability

Shaw has been constantly on the mind of Indian fans after captaining India to the under-19 World Cup victory and with his string of impressive performances at the end of IPL. He showed the whole world his talent on the big stage with one of the most entertaining Test centuries of this year.

He had little respect for the Windies pace bowlers and was constantly hitting the ball above their heads with no fear, which would have reminded many Indian fans of Sehwag during his heyday. His cut shot over the point fielder’s head was a sight to behold and it was the highlight of the day. He looked slightly less comfortable against Bishoo but he is still young and the more time he gets, the more he is going to learn.

#2 The inexperienced pace attack of West Indies

The last few years have not been great for West Indies cricket in general with them losing several of their key players in a contract dispute and this bowling lineup is just not up to the level of international cricket. Shannon Gabriel bowled a solid spell at the beginning of the innings and clocked high speeds of 140+ throughout, but apart from him no one looked threatening and constantly bowled loose balls.

Test match bowling is all about steadily building pressure by constantly bowling a good line and length but the Caribbean bowlers sprayed the ball all over the pitch and made life very easy for the Indian batsmen. Keemo Paul and Sherman Lewis both are youngsters and this was a reality check for them. They have to adapt quickly to the flat Indian pitches if West Indies are to give India a hiccup in this match.

#3 KL Rahul’s inconsistency

Rahul had a disappointing Test match series in England that was saved by an elegant 2nd innings century at The Oval. Inconsistency has been the only constant thing in his short Test match career and yet again he bagged a duck and disappointed the Indian fans. The pitch was tailor-made for him and if he had survived the initial phase, he would have surely made a big score, taking into account the weak Carribean attack and his ability to punish the loose balls with ease.

But, the fast in-ducker which troubled him for the whole of England tour came back to haunt him again as he was trapped plumb in front. Adding to his misery, he decided to take the review and it was pretty evident from the replays that it was a silly decision made out of desperation. KL Rahul’s talent has never been in question but playing at the highest level demands consistency and temperament which seems to be missing from his batting.