India are gearing up for their first Test against the West Indies which will kick off their tour of the Caribbean islands. The match will be played in Dominica from July 12 to 16. It will be the first Test that the Windsor Park will host since 2017 and just the fifth overall.
Incidentally, the first ever Test that was hosted in Dominica was also between India and the West Indies. That match was played in July 2011 and Virat Kohli remains the only player from that Indian squad to be still with the team going into the upcoming Test. However, he is not the only individual present with the squad from the Indian team that played in 2011. India's current head coach Rahul Dravid was a senior member of the squad back then and Kohli acknowledged that with a post on his social media handles.
“The only two guys part of the last test we played at Dominica in 2011. Never imagined the journey would bring us back here in different capacities. Highly grateful,” Kohli says in the post alongwith an image with Dravid at the stadium.
{{/usCountry}}“The only two guys part of the last test we played at Dominica in 2011. Never imagined the journey would bring us back here in different capacities. Highly grateful,” Kohli says in the post alongwith an image with Dravid at the stadium.
{{/usCountry}}The two players were on opposite ends of their careers at the time. It was the last Test in Dravid and his longtime teammate VVS Laxman's illustrious careers in the West Indies. Kohli on the other hand had only made his Test debut in the first match of the series.
The West Indies, led by former all-rounder Darren Sammy, batted first and were all out for 204 with Ishant Sharma taking five wickets. India scored 347 with captain MS Dhoni scoring top scoring for them with a 133-ball 74. West Indies posted 322 in their second innings thanks to centuries from batting great Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Kirk Edwards, thus setting a 180-run target for India to chase in just over a session on the last day. The hosts never let India score freely and fought out a draw. Dravid fell for five runs to Sammy in the Indian first innings and was unbeaten on 34 in the second. Kohli scored 30 in the first innings and didn't bat in the second.