“He outthought a few batsmen, but also outskilled a few” - Dinesh Karthik hails “world-class” Ravichandran Ashwin

Keeper-batter Dinesh Karthik hailed seasoned Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for his impressive five-wicket haul on Day 1 of the first Test against West Indies in Dominica on Wednesday. According to Karthik, Ashwin’s skills were way too good for a few of the batters.

Ashwin claimed 5/60 in 24.3 overs as India bowled out West Indies for 150 in 64.3 overs on Day 1 of the Test match. Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja also made an impact with 3/26. However, the off-spinner was undoubtedly the star performer of the day.

Praising Ashwin, Karthik described his delivery to dismiss Tagenarine Chanderpaul as the ball of the day.

In a video on Cricbuzz, he said:

“He outthought a few batsmen, but also outskilled a few. That would definitely be the Chanderpaul delivery. It’s a dream ball [bowling to a left-hander], one that drifts in and takes the off-bail. Chanderpaul’s ball was probably the best ball of the day. He’s again shown us why he is such a world-class spinner. Hats off to Ashwin.”

Karthik was, however, critical of West Indies’ batters and opined a lot of them gave their wickets away with poor strokes.

The 38-year-old elaborated:

“The rest of the batting capitulated. From being 31/1, which is a decent start in a Test match, it became 75/5. We keep speaking why West Indies is struggling - they haven’t been having the technique or skill to forge together good partnerships. Players getting out to meek shots - [Kraigg] Brathwaite, being the captain, looking to loft one, getting caught at cover. [Jermaine] Blackwood chipping it to mid-off.”

For West Indies, debutant batter Alick Athanaze was the only one to offer some resistance. He scored a defiant 47 before becoming one of Ashwin’s five victims.

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“Ishan Kishan was lovely behind the stumps” - Karthik

While West Indies handed a debut to Athanaze, India too had two Test debutants in Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ishan Kishan. The latter was impressive behind the wickets, taking two catches and his glovework was smooth overall.

Sharing his thoughts on Kishan, Karthik said:

“India fielded beautifully, some lovely catches taken by them. Ishan Kishan was lovely behind the stumps. A great catch to get Joshua Da Silva. His first catch in Test cricket - Raymon Reifer - off Shardul Thakur, was again a very good catch, low to the ground.”

Having bowled out West Indies cheaply, India went to stumps at 80/0, with Jaiswal batting on 40 and Rohit Sharma on 30.