5 reasons why the Rajkot Test win was memorable for India

The stage was set for an emphatic Indian win on the very first day itself when Virat Kohli finally won a toss after losing all in England. India put up a mammoth 364 runs on board at stumps which seemed more than enough for Virat & co. to ensure India’s 100th Test win on home soil.

Though touted as a preparation series prior to yet another litmus test Down Under, this 2 Tests series is all about testing India’s bench strength.

Trying out new batting combination was the most anticipated thing to happen as teen sensation Prithvi Shaw made a perfect debut in whites for India, KL Rahul was rewarded yet another opening slot for his 148 against England at The Oval, Kuldeep Yadav regained his flair in Test cricket, Rishabh Pant continued to impress, and so many things happened ‘good’ to India in these two and a half days.

Let’s analyse 5 reasons as to why the Rajkot Test was memorable for India.

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Prithvi Shaw’s debut

With a blistering century, the 18-year-old teen sensation and India's U-19 World Cup winning captain announced his arrival into international cricket in a wa any teenager would ever have dreamt of.

Hailing from the ‘Mumbai school of batsmanship’, the young debutant was uncharacteristic of his calm demeanour and innocent looks as he hit classy boundaries all around the park to notch up a fabulous century on debut that included 19 boundaries. (134 of 154; SR: 87).

The youngster’s batting style strongly resembled with that of explosive opener Virender Sehwag. Clearly, alarm bells have started ringing over a few out-of-form batsmen as this teenager is knocking the door with a ‘Man of the Match’ performance on debut.

Rishabh Pant’s exploits

The Delhi born wicket-keeper batsmen went after the hapless West Indian bowling that clearly missed Kemar Roach and Jason Holder. Partnering another Dilliwallah i.e. Virat Kohli, the southpaw missed another century by a whisker as he got out on 92 of 84 balls which included 8 fours and 4 huge sixes.

Pant's coming in to bat at No.6 reminisces of the great Aussie wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist who did the same for Australia during their heydays. Pant can replicate ‘Gilly’. Also, his sharp stumping behind the wicket was commendable.

It’s good for him to trade all skills and techniques from senior statesman MS Dhoni.

Ravindra Jadeja's presence

The ‘Rajput’ sword that he displayed after getting his maiden Test hundred (on home soil as a local boy) surely was the watershed moment in Ravindra Jadeja’s career.

Although he already carries a reputation of India’s best fielder and efficient bowling all-rounder, the Saurashtra boy put to rest all critics who questioned his batting abilities by achieving a century that eluded him for a decade.

His coming back to form surely will give Virat Kohli more options as to how to use him and Hardik Pandya as all-rounders.

Virat ‘unstoppable’ Kohli’s record making and breaking habits

Virat Kohli notched up his 24th Test ton, 17th as captain, 2nd against WI; going past Steve Smith's 23.

The Indian captain has been in peak form in Test format post-December 2015. He became the first-ever Indian captain to score 4 Test centuries in 4 home Tests. His scores read: 104* vs SL, Kolkata, 2017; 213 vs SL, Nagpur, 2017; 243 vs SL, Delhi, 2017, and now 139 vs WI, Rajkot, 2018.

This apart, he has scored 1000+ runs in Tests in three successive calendar years: 2016, 2017 and 2018. Only Matthew Hayden (5), Steve Smith (4) are ahead, whereas he equals Marcus Trescothick, Brian Lara, Kevin Pietersen who also have (3 each).

Among Indians, Sachin Tendulkar has the maximum i.e. 6 thousand plus Test runs in a calendar year, Sunil Gavaskar (4), Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag (3 each). Virat’s meteoric rise in Test cricket began only after 2015.

Until 2015, he had played 41 Tests scoring 11 hundreds. And since 2016, he has played 31 Tests scoring 13 tons and 6 double tons. This propelled him to become the number one batsmen in both Tests and ODIs. He also was at the helm in T20Is until most part of last year.

Rajkot win a sweet one statistically

This was India’s 100th Test win on home soil marking India’s biggest-ever victory in Tests by innings, as the school-boyish West Indies were thrashed by an innings and 272 runs. India continued to dominate West Indies in Test cricket as the beam balance has tilted in India’s favour since last 2 decades.

India hasn’t lost a Test against West Indies in last 16 years and Rajkot’s win was their 11th victory in these many years as India has won the last six Test series consecutively against the once mighty West Indies! Meanwhile, nine Tests ended in draws within this period.

However, the overall head to head record still tilts in Caribbean’s favour 30-19 (46 draws).