India, expectedly, were too good to handle for the West Indies as the hosts took ascendance on the first day of the Test series opener at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday, October 2. Despite a public holiday, the crowd was sparse in the 1.32 Lakh capacity stadium, but the cricket on show was of some quality, at least from one side. It was India's day through and through, with the hosts just 41 runs away from getting into the lead and will hope to bat just once in the ongoing Test match.
Jasprit Bumrah began the procession after the West Indies won the toss and opted to bat and it was the two senior men in the middle, KL Rahul and Shubman Gill, taking India off the field after the stumps, almost indicating that they were in safe hands. West Indies threw some punches, but the effect of those wasn't that big and they ultimately threw in the towel and India didn't give them an inch.
After Bumrah began the wickets procession, Mohammed Siraj, fresh off a long break after a successful England tour, was quick into his work. 1...2...3... Siraj just couldn't stop himself from taking wickets. It was a combination of great bowling and lack of application on the part of the West Indies batters as the visitors were quickly down to 42/4 from 20/1.
After Siraj became too hot to handle, Roston Chase and Shai Hope negotiated the tough period and almost got their team through to lunch, before Kuldeep Yadav, returning to the Test line-up after almost a year, struck. It was one that spun and Hope was taken by surprise. He was in disbelief as it hadn't turned a lot from either of the spinners before that delivery, and it really jumped off.
Chase's patience also gave up as Siraj got one to straighten and got his fourth, as Dhruv Jurel, who was flying around behind the stumps, took his third catch of the day. There was a bit of resistance from the lower order led by the all-rounder Justin Greaves, but it could last as long as Bumrah wasn't brought into the attack.
Bumrah produced two cracking yorkers to send back Greaves and debutant Johann Layne, before Kuldeep finished it off as West Indies could muster just 162.
India lost a couple of wickets before the end of the day's play, but Rahul was unbeaten on a half-century, and Gill had gotten his eye in. Yashasvi Jaiswal, in action for the first time since the England tour, looked a bit rusty, while Sai Sudharsan, who was coming off a good show in India A matches, was too tentative. India will be keen to get a lead of at least 250 before thinking of declaring.
