The glory days of West Indies cricket, especially in the longest format, are long gone. Very few expect them to win a Test series against any of the top five-ranked teams in any condition. But what the first Test match against India showed was that fall from grace has been very drastic. Questions are now being raised on whether they can even compete with a side like India in Test cricket.
They couldn't cross debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal's score (171) in any of their innings. India bowled them out for 150 in the first innings and then rolled them over for 130 in the second to win the Test by an innings and 141 runs inside three days. And out of those three, India batted for close to two days.
India's batters kept West Indies in the field for 152.2 overs while West Indies batted just 115 overs in both innings combined. If India captain Rohit Sharma hadn't decided to declare at 421/5 in the second session on Day 3, the situation could have been worse, the contrast more damaging.
No wonder, West Indies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite sounded dejected. "We just let ourselves down with the bat. First innings total was just not good enough," Brathwaite said after the match.
Brathwaite was particularly critical of his own performance as he scored just 20 and 7 in two innings while opening the batting. The shot he played against Ashwin in the first session of the Test match when the pitch as best for batting, was uncalled for, to say the least.
{{/usCountry}}Brathwaite was particularly critical of his own performance as he scored just 20 and 7 in two innings while opening the batting. The shot he played against Ashwin in the first session of the Test match when the pitch as best for batting, was uncalled for, to say the least.
{{/usCountry}}"...that I didn't get any runs. As a leader, I need to lead from the front and get runs. In the first innings, a few dismissals were not good for us. We lost a wicket before lunch. We lost certain situations," he said.
Brathwaite asked the senior players to step up.
"Senior guys have to lead the way. (Batting against champion bowlers) It is tough. It is having the balance and playing the shot in the right way, whether to defend or sweep.
"I think we didn't execute the shots we were trying. Even today (Friday) we had some defensive dismissals. We have to use the bat more instead of our pads."
"(Toss) Didn't think it spun a lot early on," he said.
"He (Athanze) had a good start. You could see that he belongs. Bowling, he had to do a job because we lost (Rahkeem) Cornwall for four hours. His future is bright. Has a strong mind," Brathwaite said.