WI VS IND - 1st Test, India tour of West Indies, 2019

That's it from the comm. box. It was a pleasure as always to bring to you some hard fought cricketing action. Can Windies bounce back? Be rest assured, we will be there to answer it. Until then, this is Kumar Abhisekh Das signing off on behalf of Pradeep Krishnamurthy, Raju Peethala, Abhinand Raghavendran and Venkatesh

16:38 Local Time, 20:38 GMT, 02:08 IST: It is rightly said a good beginning is half the job done. But the other half also needs attention. Windies faltered there. They had India huffing and puffing before lunch on day 1. But they let them off the hook. Post that Rahane took charge with a monk like innings. Hardly erring in his penance-ridden 81. Day 2 was more about application. Skill sets are a waste without application and that is what so many of the West Indian batters were culprit of. They just threw it away at regular intervals which helped India to ajar the doors of opportunity. The usually luckless Ishant though had his hands full this time and picked up a fifer to lead India's charge. India had learnt their moral science classes well and learnt from the mistakes of their counterparts. A hundred for Rahane to go one step better from his first innings performance and Vihari got 93. Not to forget the skipper played a calculative knock and sketched a fifty himself. Finally, Bumrah and co. took only 26.5 overs in the second innings to swat aside Windies. The Test championship has got off to a cracking start. Ashes see sawing, Sri Lanka overhauling New Zealand and the Rahane-Bumrah special at Antigua. The purists wanted context and they are getting plenty of it.

Virat Kohli: Even last time we played here, the first Test was very good for us. This time it was even more hard work, Jinks was very good in both the innings. It was more of a grind. We had to come back into the game three or four times. That's where our temperament has been good in Tests. Managing player workloads is very important for us and that's why he didn't play any white-ball cricket after the World Cup. We wanted him fresh for this Test series. He (Bumrah) will be a key player for us as far as the Test championship is concerned. We know how good a player he is. Those three are bowling well as a group. We are pretty settled as a bowling combination. Combination is absolutely based on players who can provide more than one skill. It is about managing the resources that we have and feeling settled about it. There will always be opinions on a team selected. It's a responsibility that I'm fulfilling. It's a blessing that I am in a position to contribute to my team in more than one way. Nothing is possible without the team. I am taking the decisions but it is up to the individuals to do the execution. We will be put under pressure and we need to be more solid. We have enjoyed each other's success and that's been our key. We need to be even more solid and try to plug in the gaps from this game.

Ajinkya Rahane, Man of the Match: Feels really special. I thought the first innings was very crucial for us. The partnership between me and Rahul was very crucial. Before this, I played county games for Hampshire and that helped me. I dedicate this award to the people who have backed me for the last one and a half to two years. I think first day of the game, the wicket was really damp. We knew if we stay there the runs would come. The plan was to bat, bat and bat.

Jason Holder: Tough game. We didn't bat well. We have batting issues to sort, have been going on for too long. The wicket was good through the entire game and we should have batted a lot better. Ajinkya got a hundred in the second innings, thought he played really well and everyone else batted around him. It was one of those surfaces where you couldn't blast people out. I wouldn't question the team selection. We played the same combination in the last series and we were quite successful. I think we only have ourselves to blame in terms of the batting performance. We should have batted a lot better. We need to take responsibility as a group. Players have to own up responsibilities. Bumrah bowled really well. It was one of those spells which would have dislodged most of the top-order players. We got to be much better as a batting unit. We got to be better. Our players have done really well over there (Jamaica).

Jasprit Bumrah: Feeling good and we built pressure as a bowling unit which was nice. We used the breeze to our advantage and stuck to our plans. Lot of hard-work and practice goes into that (about bowling the outswinger). I always had the inswinger but the more I played the more confident I got. Playing with the Dukes ball in England helped me a lot too. It has helped my confidence. Always trying to evolve as a bowler and always trying to do new things and when the ball is not swinging maybe try and use the seam to get the movement. Lot of communication goes between the bowlers and sometimes you just need to hit good areas and everything else will follow. Playing after sometime and little stiff on my back and it all sorted out in the second innings. Looking forward to the next game.

16:12 Local Time, 20:12 GMT, 01:42 IST: India were the favourites and the script hasn't changed much. They have clinched this by 318 runs. But can't say effortlessly because it took a patient 81 from under-fire Rahane to dig India out of a hole. And then Windies dug themselves a pit by throwing their wickets and throwing away the chance to take a lead. Day 3 was about consolidation and Kohli-Rahane partnership did so to put India well ahead. Day 4 had two parts -- acceleration and decimation. India did well to put up a target of 419 and then the Indian troika of pacers blew the Windies team away. Bumrah led the charge with a fifer. And the support acts were well enacted by Ishant and Shami. Windies were 50 for 9 but Roach decided to have fun and that helped them toe the three figure mark. Hang on for the presentations. My Man of the Match would be Rahane. But let's see who takes the award.

Most away Test wins for India captains

12 VIRAT KOHLI (26 Tests)
11 Sourav Ganguly (28)
06 MS Dhoni (30)
05 Rahul Dravid (17)

Biggest winning margin for India in away Tests (by runs)

318 v WI North Sound 2019 *
304 v SL Galle 2017
279 v Eng Leeds 1986
278 v SL Colombo PSS 2015
272 v NZ Auckland 1967/68

Most Test wins for India captains
27 Virat Kohli (47 Tests)
27 MS Dhoni (60)
21 Sourav Ganguly (49)
14 Mohd Azharuddin (47)

Biggest winning margin for India (by runs)
337 v SA Delhi 2015/16
321 v NZ Indore 2016/17
320 v Aus Mohali 2008/09
318 v WI North Sound 2019 *
304 v SL Galle 2017

Lowest totals for WI vs India
100 North Sound 2019 *
103 Kingston 2006
108 Gros Islet 2016
127 Delhi 1987/88
127 Hyderbad RGS 2018/19

Ishant to Roach, out Caught by Pant!! And that's it! India's first win in Test championships. West Indies's lowest score in Tests against India. India walk over Windies by 318 runs. Have stamped over them. That was short, Roach went for the pull, got a big fat top-edge and Pant ran towards the fine leg region to put an end to the formalities. Roach c Pant b Ishant 38(31) [4s-1 6s-5]

Ishant to Roach, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Ishant to Roach, no run, short ball, well directed as that was well outside off. Roach tried to fetch it on to the on-side and missed it

Ishant to Roach, SIX, what a way to bring up the 100! Windies are going down fighting here. Certainly Roach. In the slot and Roach, my word he clouted it big over widish long-on. Meaty blow. 100 up and 50 of the partnership up as well

Ishant to Roach, no run, ugly slog across the line but ended up inner halving it to the fielder at mid-on

Ishant to Roach, no run, slower delivery at the sticks, knocked out into the on-side

Ishant Sharma [9.0-1-25-2] is back into the attack

Ishant is back now. Hoping to wrap it up as soon as possible.

Shami to Miguel Cummins, 2 runs, scythes this one through the off-side and gets a brace. That was just outside off and Miguel Cummins gave himself room to power it away. 12 off the over. This pair now has 44 to their credit

Shami to Miguel Cummins, no run, slower delivery, Miguel Cummins was backing away and almost ended up gifting a catch to the man at gully. Was edged away but landed well short

Shami to Miguel Cummins, no run, bangs the ball short, Miguel Cummins ducks under it

Shami to Miguel Cummins, SIX, clears his front foot and slams it over long-on for a sixer. Take that Shami says Miguel Cummins. Of course metaphorically. That was in the slot and Miguel Cummins had a free swing