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Cricket PlayersIndia vs West Indies: Team India Report Card - How Virat Kohli & Co fared against WI
Hindustan Times takes a look at the performance of the Indian players in the first Test against West Indies in Rajkot.
Indian bowlers produced an exceptional bowling display to defeat West Indies by an innings and 272 runs in the opening Test of the two-match series at the Saurashtra Cricket Stadium in Rajkot on Saturday.
Asked to follow-on by India after being bowled out for 181 in the first innings, the Caribbean side attempted to launch a counter-attack against the Indian bowlers. However, their attempts were thwarted by the spinners and they were dismissed for 196 in the second innings.
Hindustan Times takes a look at the performance of the Indian players in the first Test against West Indies in Rajkot.
Prithvi Shaw – Rating: 10/10, Verdict: Excellent
It was a dream debut for young opener Prithvi Shaw, who slammed a scintillating century in his first innings in international cricket and broke multiple record in the process. Shaw smashes 134 off 154 deliveries and became the second youngest Indian overall after Sachin Tendulkar to have scored a Test century. He also became only the 15th Indian cricketer ever to have scored a century on Test debut. The attacking batsman from Mumbai made his debut at the age of 18 years and 329 days, and is the seventh youngest batsman in the history of Test cricket to have scored a century.
KL Rahul – Rating: 1/10, Verdict: Very Poor
The stage was set for Lokesh Rahul to shine against a depleted Windies bowling attack, however, he was dismissed for a duck in the first over of the innings. Rahul faced just four deliveries in the match as India didn’t get a chance to bat in the second essay. The one rating point that he gets is only for turning up for the match and picking up a catch in the second innings.
Cheteshwar Pujara – Rating: 7/10, Verdict: Good
There is a reason why Cheteshwar Pujara is regarded as one of the best in the business when it comes to the longest format of the game. The right-hander was on top of him game once again and didn’t give any chance to the opposition bowlers right through the course of his 130-ball innings. He put on a 206-run partnership with Shaw and kept talking to the youngster while they were batting together. Pujara was finally dismissed for 86 by Sherman Lewis and he will be kicking himself for not crossing the magical three-figure mark in the innings when he was set in the middle.
Virat Kohli - Rating: 10/10, Verdict: Excellent
Another day, another milestone for the Indian captain. Virat Kohli kept his excellent from going in Tests and slammed his 24th century against a hapless West Indies bowling line-up. Kohli continued the good work of Shaw and Pujara by stitching good partnerships with Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant to power India to a huge total. Kohli, who scored his 11th Test hundred in India and 8th as captain at home, also became the second fastest to 24 Test centuries after Don Bradman (66) as the Indian skipper took 123 innings to reach the milestone. This was also the 2nd Test century for Kohli against West Indies and both came as captain — joint second most against West Indies as captain along with Dilip Vengsarkar. The record remains with Sunil Gavaskar (4).
Ajinkya Rahane- Rating: 5/10, Verdict: Average
Like Rahul, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane too will be kicking himself for wasting a good opportunity to get a big score under his belt. Rahane managed to score 41 off 92 deliveries and stitched a century stand with skipper Kohli. However, a blip in concentration saw his edging a delivery into the hands of the wicket-keeper and he had to head back into the hut. This was the 10th consecutive innings without a fifty plus score for Rahane at home.
Rishabh Pant - Rating: 8/10, Verdict: Very Good
Wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant carried his good form from England into this match against West Indies as he smashed 92 off 84 to help India get to a big score. Pant hit the bowlers to all corners of the park and hit eight boundary and four massive sixes to score runs at a brisk pace. Pant finally perished in trying to hit a boundary off Devendra Bishoo and fell just eight runs short of what would have been a well-deserved second Test century.
Ravindra Jadeja -Rating: 10/10, Verdict: Excellent
An unbeaten century, four wickets and one run-out — this was Ravindra Jadeja’s contribution in India’s record-breaking win against West Indies. Jadeja slammed his maiden Test ton in the first innings of the Test which was inclusive of five fours and sixes each. Then, he picked a wicket off the first ball that he bowled in the first Windies innings and also effected a run-out. The southpaw picked up three wickets in the second innings as well, helping India close the match inside three days.
Ravichandran Ashwin -Rating: 8/10, Verdict: Very Good
Ravichandran Ashwin once again showed why is India’s most lethal weapon when it comes to home conditions. The spinner scalped four wickets in the first innings to help India bundle out the visitors for just 181 runs. The four wicket-haul in the first innings was Ashwin’s 42nd of his career and he went past Harbhajan Singh’s record in the process, who has 42 four-wicket hauls to his name. In the second innings, Ashwin was again among the wickets as he scalped two to help India dismiss the visitors.
Kuldeep Yadav - Rating: 7/10, Verdict: Good
Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav had a very hot and cold match as he was average in the first innings but devastating in the second. Kuldeep was taken for 62 runs in the first innings and he picked up just one wicket in 10 overs. But Kuldeep turned his fortunes around spectacularly in the second innings as he grabbed a stunning five-wicket haul to star in India’s emphatic win. Kuldeep also became the first Indian Chinaman bowler to claim a five-wicket haul and the second Asian after Sri Lanka’s Lakshan Sandakan.
Umesh Yadav - Rating: 5/10, Verdict: Average
Fast-bowler Umesh Yadav had a rather quiet outing against West Indies as spinners were doing most of the damage to the batsmen. In two innings, he scalped just one wicket but in his defence, he bowled just 14 overs in the two innings. During India’s batting, Umesh smahed two huge sixes to give a small account of his hitting prowess as well.
Mohammed Shami - Rating: 6/10, Verdict: Good
Mohammed Shami certainly performed better than Umesh Yadav as he was more effective than his teammate. Shami gave India an ideal start by picking up two West Indies wickets in quick succession in their first essay. But like Umesh, he two was under-bowled by skipper Kohli and was given just 12 overs in the entire match.
