India will look set to extend their decade-long dominance over West Indies when the first match of a two-Test series starts at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Thursday. This series will also mark Virat Kohli and Co’s debut in the ICC World Test Championship.
Having swept the T20I series 3-0 and taken the ODI contest 2-0, India are bursting with confidence going into their first Test match since the historic series triumph in Australia at the start of the year.
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In contrast, the West Indies have gone off the boil since dominating England in the home Test series in the Caribbean six months ago and then going toe-to-toe with the same opponents in the subsequent ODI series.
And on the evidence of the limited-overs leg of India’s visit, and especially Kohli’s irresistible form with the bat, it will be asking a lot of the West Indies to get the better of the tourists and claim a first Test match victory over India for more than 17 years. May 2002 was the last time India lost a match against the Caribbean side.
India vs WI in Tests since 2000
| Result | Margin | Ground | Start date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Match drawn | - | Georgetown | 11 Apr 2002 |
| India won | 37 runs | Port of Spain | 19 Apr 2002 |
| India lost | 10 wickets | Bridgetown | 2 May 2002 |
| Match drawn | - | St John's | 10 May 2002 |
| India lost | 155 runs | Kingston | 18 May 2002 |
| India won | inns & 112 runs | Mumbai | 9 Oct 2002 |
| India won | 8 wickets | Chennai | 17 Oct 2002 |
| Match drawn | - | Kolkata | 30 Oct 2002 |
| Match drawn | - | St John's | 2 Jun 2006 |
| Match drawn | - | Gros Islet | 10 Jun 2006 |
| Match drawn | - | Basseterre | 22 Jun 2006 |
| India won | 49 runs | Kingston | 30 Jun 2006 |
| India won | 63 runs | Kingston | 20 Jun 2011 |
| Match drawn | - | Bridgetown | 28 Jun 2011 |
| Match drawn | - | Roseau | 6 Jul 2011 |
| India won | 5 wickets | Delhi | 6 Nov 2011 |
| India won | inns & 15 runs | Kolkata | 14 Nov 2011 |
| Match drawn | - | Mumbai | 22 Nov 2011 |
| India won | inns & 51 runs | Kolkata | 6 Nov 2013 |
| India won | inns & 126 runs | Mumbai | 14 Nov 2013 |
| India won | inns & 92 runs | North Sound | 21 Jul 2016 |
| Match drawn | - | Kingston | 30 Jul 2016 |
| India won | 237 runs | Gros Islet | 9 Aug 2016 |
| Match drawn | - | Port of Spain | 18 Aug 2016 |
| India won | inns & 272 runs | Rajkot | 4 Oct 2018 |
| India won | 10 wickets | Hyderabad | 12 Oct 2018 |
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However, if the home team can recapture the Holder-inspired dominance of England achieved earlier this year, there is hope that they will be able to match up to an Indian team well prepared for the longer version of the game.
For India, Chesteshwar Pujara, who reeled off three centuries in the four Tests in Australia, has already picked up from where he left off Down Under in notching up three figures in the lone warm-up fixture against a regional representative team last weekend.
Helpful conditions
It remains to be seen whether the selectors will include Rohit Sharma – a fixture at the top of the order in limited-over matches – in the middle order and whether the exciting young talent of Rishabh Pant will keep the experienced wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha in the dressing room.
“I don’t think us batsmen have lived up to the standard,” Kohli said on the eve of the first Test, stressing on the importance of the batting coming together as a team, rather than individuals doing well. “Batsmanship will always be hard at the Test level, but even harder now with the Championship where every decision you make counts in the larger scheme of things.”
Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, player of the series when India dominated the home side in the Caribbean three years ago, could find himself on the sidelines with Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav seen as the prime contenders for the specialist spinner’s role.
A change of policy in preparation has seen the pitch in Antigua, and indeed all Test match venues in the Caribbean, being more fast bowler-friendly since the start of last year. That could favour the visitors who have a trio in Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma very capable of exploiting helpful conditions.
Kohli, ahead of the match, pretty much confirmed a four-bowler strategy.
“After looking at the pitch, it is more or less a choice between three quicks and a spinner or two quicks and two spinners,” Kohli said. “The last time England played here, pitch had quite a variable bounce so all those factors come into play. But we are very flexible and open at the moment.”
Not that the West Indies will be daunted by the prospect of three pacers, for in Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel, Holder and all-rounder Keemo Paul, they have the firepower to challenge India’s vaunted batting line-up, as the English found to their cost in February.
However, the outcome of the first Test could ultimately hinge on batting, and whether the West Indies can defy a determined, world-class bowling attack to post competitive totals.
Squads
India: Virat Kohli (c), Mayank Aagrwal, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (wk), Kuldep Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Wriddhiman Saha (wk).
West Indies: Jason Holder (c), Kraigg Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, John Campbell, Roston Chase, Rakheem Cornwall, Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Keemo Paul, Kemar Roach.
Match starts 7pm (IST).
(With inputs from PTI and AFP)