Former Indian wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta was baffled to see the West Indies batters fail to apply themselves after opting to bat first on Day 1 of the first Test against India in Dominica on Wednesday, July 12.
The men from the Caribbean were rolled over for just 150 and Dasgupta feels the majority of the blame goes to their poor shot selections. He was disappointed to see the lack of consistency and temperament from the batters.
Speaking to ESPNCricinfo after the end of play on Day 1, here's what Deep Dasgupta had to say about West Indies' first innings:
"Some of the other batting was ordinary. And I will be forgiving if I say ordinary because there wasn't quite much there. It was quite disheartening to see the approach. They're all good players because they have scored runs in the past. But consistency is something that's lacking and bothering them. Some of the shots that were played were average, or even below average to be honest."
Deep Dasgupta impressed with Alick Athanaze's debut
While Deep Dasgupta was disappointed with most of the West Indies batters, he praised young Alick Athanaze for his impressive knock of 47 on his Test debut. The former cricketer spoke about how comfortable the young southpaw looked against India's quality bowling attack.
On this, Dasgupta stated:
"He (Athanaze) looked composed and solid. His partnership with Holder seemed to be the only time when the West Indies seemed to pose any kind of threat to the Indian bowlers. It is so vital to have a good defensive technique in this format and he seems to have that. The temperament in shit selection was also there. It is something that should excite West Indies cricket fans."
India are trailing by 70 runs after the end of play on Day 1 and have all ten wickets in hand.
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