Virat Kohli notched up his first Test double hundred, and Ravichandran Ashwin continued his run-making spree against West Indies by scoring his third Test ton, as India took a strong hold over the first Test with 566-8 in their first innings. Starting the day on 302-4, the combination of Kohli and Ashwin were hardly bothered by the second new ball, stitching together a partnership of 168 runs.
After Kohli’s departure, Ashwin slowed down, but dug in to score his third Test century, all three of which have been against the same opposition. He was ably supported by Wriddhiman Saha, and then Amit Mishra. The latter took to his shots after Ashwin’s dismissal, ending with 53, his fourth Test fifty. Mohammad Shami threw his bat around to take the score past 550 for India.
With Mishra’s wicket, Kohli declared the innings, sending the West Indian openers in the middle with 16 overs to go in the day. Mohammad Shami gave the visitors their first breakthrough, dismissing Rajendra Chandrika behind the stumps for 16. Ashwin then spun his web in the dying stages of day 2, and although he couldn’t get a wicket, he troubled the batsmen with his sharp turn and bounce.
Roderick Estwick, West Indian bowling coach, talked about his team’s young bowling attack:“It is a learning curve, as we have lost Kemar Roach, and Jerome Taylor to retirement. Credit to India and their batsmen for the way they batted. Patience is going to be the key for us, because we have a young bowling attack. By the time Jason becomes 27, he will be at his peak. Gabriel got injured in Australia, we are trying to get him back to full match fitness. We are using him in short bursts. A lot of it has to do with the determination.”
Have worked a lot on my batting: Ashwin
“It is a great thing for me to be pushed up, I want to thank Anil Bhai and Kohli. I have been looking forward to this opportunity, and I put my head down this time. I enjoy my batting. There have been times when I have been flashy, but I need to work hard to get in the top six or seven. I have never left so many balls in my life. If you can get a hang of the pace and bounce, you can score here. It is just that I have time when we play against West Indies. The floater has worked well for me over the last year. The action doesn’t change, only the wrist position changes. We have to be really patient to get the wickets. We have to prize out a wicket tomorrow, but that is the fun of Test cricket.
Twitter was abuzz after Kohli got to another milestone this year and Ashwin displayed his batting prowess. Here are a few of the reactions:
VVS Laxman got one of his two predictions right:
Harsha Bhogle was all praise about Ashwin’s batting capabilities:
Earlier, he tweeted after Virat Kohli reached his landmark:
Anurag Thakur, President of the BCCI:
Robin Uthappa:
Anjum Chopra:
Harbhajan Singh:
Aakash Chopra:
Ian Bishop:
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