India vs West Indies 1st Test: Preview, Head-to-Head, Weather & Pitch Report, Key Stats

Having defended the Asia Cup title, the Indian team will now move onto their next assignment, ie. the home series against West Indies. India will be hosting West Indies for two Tests, five ODIs, and three T20Is over the next month or so and the tour will kick-off with a Test series which will commence of 4th of October from Rajkot.

West Indies' Tour of India, first Test Details:

Match Date: 04 October 2018, Thursday - 08 October 2018, Monday

Match Timing: 9:30 AM IST, 4:00 AM GMT, 9:30 AM local

Match Venue: Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot, India

Broadcast Details: Star Sports Network

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Weather

The matchdays are expected to be a hot affair for both the teams as the day will start with a scorching heat with temperature levels hovering around the 35 degree Celsius mark. Besides, the humidity levels will hit as high as 64 per cent with a minimal cloud cover of 7 per cent.

Thus, rain is not expected to play a spoilsport in the first Test between India and West Indies. Nonetheless, heat levels will pose an added challenges ahead of both the Indian team.

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Pitch report

The Ranji home team players Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja have scored triple hundreds at this venue. That gives a fair indication of the nature of wicket here at Rajkot - a batsman's abode.

However, with dry dust being the nature of the pitch, we can expect a decent amount of turn from the third day itself which is why three spinners will be an ideal combination on this wicket.

Test Stats (Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot)

Average 1st Innings score: 537

Average 2nd Innings score: 488

Average 3rd Innings score: 260

Average 4th Innings score: 172

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Head-to-head Overall

30 - 18 in favour of West Indies. Thus far, India and West Indies have played 94 Test matches between them with India winning on 18 occasions while West Indies on 30 occasions. Meanwhile, the rest that of the matches (46) have ended in a draw between them.

Head-to-head in India

14 - 11 in favour of West Indies. In India, India and West Indies have locked horns on 45 occasions with former registering 11 wins while the latter registering 14 wins and the rest of them (20) ending in a draw.

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India's Squad for the Test series against West Indies

Virat Kohli (C), KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (VC), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (WK), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, and Shardul Thakur.

West Indies' Squad for the Test series against India

Jason Holder (C), Sunil Ambris, Devendra Bishoo, Kraigg Brathwaite, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Jahmar Hamilton, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Sherman Lewis, Keemo Paul, Kieran Powell, Kemar Roach, and Jomel Warrican.

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Statistics & Numbers

2 - Jason Holder, the Windies skipper, is just two wickets shy from completing 200 wickets in international cricket. Scalping these two wickets, Holder will become the 18th West Indian to take 200 or more wickets in international cricket.

13 - Ajinkya Rahane needs 13 more runs to complete 6500 international runs. He will become the 20th Indian to cross the 6500-mark in international cricket.

17 - The West Indian captain, Jason Holder, needs to score 17 more runs to complete 1500 runs in Test cricket.

191 - Cheteshwar Pujara needs to score 191 more runs to achieve the feat of 5000 Test runs. Amassing these runs, Pujara will become the only 12th Indian to complete 5000 or more runs in Test cricket.