Oh, what a relief.
This is not to say there was something obscenely wrong with India’s cricketing form between December 2015 and April 2016. It could even be argued that they exceeded expectations. Apart from a One-Day International series loss against Australia Down Under, India were imperious in the Twenty20 format, only edged out by a highly motivated West Indies in the semi-finals of the World Twenty20.
But, for all of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s canniness and shrewdness, there is a touch of unbridled joy in watching an Indian cricket team led by Virat Kohli taking the field.
True, right now, these are just early days in Kohli’s captaincy career and once time goes on, even he could very well abandon the unrestrained aggression that has served him so well thus far. But that time is not here yet and, right now, fans have the opportunity to lap up this almost ultra-aggressive instinct which Captain Kohli wears on his sleeve.
Wickets and more wickets
Before the series started, the captain had already disclosed what was uppermost in his mind: wicket-taking. “If you don’t take 20 wickets, it doesn’t matter if you score 700 runs, there’s no point,” he flatly pointed out before the Test began.
And despite the slow and low nature of the Antigua surface, Kohli did not flinch. Five bowlers came into the Indian side and all five of them were specialists. In his mind, Virat Kohli was clear – there was no room for bits-and-pieces players such as Ravindra Jadeja or Stuart Binny. India were here to win, dominate even, and however unhelpful the surface was, Kohli wanted to go hard right from the start.
It’s in these small things that Test cricket becomes a fascinating mental game. Five bowlers would automatically mean an added responsibility on the five specialist batsmen remaining in the team. The question between who would open between Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul had also popped up. Dhawan was the established opener but has been in poor form lately – Rahul is much younger and has been going through a purple patch.
The Dhawan gamble pays off
But Kohli went with Dhawan and even provided the reason: “Someone like Shikhar is a very dominant player, he can dominate sessions and bring you into the Test match.”
And that was almost exactly what happened. West Indies’ initial barrage got them rewards and they kept Dhawan quiet – he only hit two boundaries in the first 60 deliveries he faced. India were scoring at a run rate of just over two and a half when Kohli joined Dhawan. But once the initial storm had passed, Dhawan and Kohli stuck into the weak West Indies bowling attack and the runs came at a fair tick. Dhawan’s strike rate was a meagre 39 after he had faced 58 balls. In the second half of his innings, he scored 61 off his next 89 balls before being dismissed for 84.
A large part of that quick scoring was also due to the efforts of Kohli, the batsman, who perfectly complimented his own captaincy. The game took a different character once the captain came in to bat – he freely drove through the covers, which left the West Indies struggling to pose a threat. Till then, they had been content in bowling negative lines and keeping the Indian batsmen quiet, but now that plan had also been nullified. The captain cantered to a 12th Test century and still remains at the crease on 143, a perfect return to the scene of his Test debut five years ago.
How good India’s five-pronged attack will prove to be can only be gauged once West Indies come in to bat. But there was one last rabbit that Kohli pulled out of his hat.
Things seemed comfortable at 236/3 before Ajinkya Rahane found a way to dismiss himself off a filthy long hop from leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo. But it wasn’t wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha who came out to replace Rahane – it was Ravichandran Ashwin. And Ashwin was not playing the conventional night-watchman’s role. He had being pushed above Saha, perhaps in a testament to how much his batting has improved over the years.
Ashwin upheld that faith by playing some gorgeous strokes of his own and providing steady support to Kohli at the end. At 302/4 at the end of the first day, India are excellently placed. And Kohli’s refreshing aggression has been vindicated after the first day’s proceedings.