IND vs WI, 1st Test: India recapture home dominance by crushing West Indies by an innings and 140 runs on Day 3

Ahmedabad: They say champion teams show a level of ruthlessness without being arrogant, simply because they are so confident that, man to man, they are much above the level of the opposition in familiar conditions. The West Indies team of the 1970s and 1980s had that. The Australian teams under Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting had that quality too.

The Indian Test team playing at home possessed that aura too — until New Zealand punched a few holes in it last year and won 3-0. India, under Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill, took baby steps to recapture that dominance by crushing West Indies by an innings and 140 runs on Day Three of the first Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium.



Already in a commanding position at the end of Day Two, India declared overnight at 448 for 5. They were sitting on a lead of 286 and wanted to use the freshness of the pitch in the morning session. West Indies were rolled over for 146 half an hour before tea with Ravindra Jadeja following up on his 104 not out to lead the attack with 4-54.

There were suggestions that Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy could have done with a hit and some runs, but with the forecast for Sunday and Monday a bit dicey, India did not want to take chances. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj got the ball moving to the two West Indian left-handed openers, John Campbell and Tagenarine Chanderpaul, especially while bowling from round the wicket.

Siraj tested Chanderpaul with a short one that he pulled and gloved into no man’s land. Unlike his father, Shivnarine, who seldom hit the ball in the air and had the ability to bat for long periods of time, Tagenarine did not learn from the previous miscue and attempted another aerial pull.

He connected well, but Nitish Kumar Reddy dived full-length to his left and took a stunning catch while being parallel to the ground.

Despite Siraj going through another long spell of 7-1-16-1, the pitch started offering generous turn an hour into Day Three from even the good areas of the playing surface and not just the rough. These were conditions tailor-made for Jadeja. Fresh from an unbeaten hundred on Day Two, India’s star all-rounder and player of the match settled in from the Adani end and tasted quick success.

He induced an error from Campbell as he flicked the ball to Sai Sudharsan at forward short-leg. There is an unkind perception that Jadeja is a bad wicket bowler and does not use subtlety.

If you watched him set up Brandon King, you would be tempted to change your stance. He fed him a full ball to crunch it past deep cover for a four. The aggressive lunge, though, would have been spotted by the wily old fox. Next over, he bowled one slower, but slightly shorter, and the batter over-committed on the front foot and had no way to adjust, and the edge was smartly pouched by KL Rahul at slip.

At 34/3, captain Roston Chase walked in, hoping to stem the rot. But Kuldeep Yadav’s wizardry proved too much for him. It was a classic setup. The left-arm wrist spinner pitched a couple of deliveries full while getting away drift.

Two balls later, he got one to drift in, and Chase, playing for the incoming delivery, failed to spot the one that went straight and saw his off-stump pegged back. Jadeja then dismissed Shai Hope as the batter failed to ride the bounce and turn, and his attempted cut was smartly plucked by Yashasvi Jaiswal at point. At 46 for 5, West Indies seemed to be in danger of registering a sub-100 total.

However, Alick Athanaze showed why coach Darren Sammy rates him as a decent player of spin. He employed a couple of well-executed reverse sweeps, and he and Jayden Seales batted well and showed good defensive technique to take the visitors from a sorry 46-5 to 92.

Post-lunch, Athanaze was struck on the helmet by a Bumrah bouncer, and that shook him up. He fell caught and bowled to Washington Sundar for 38, and then Siraj dismissed Seales and Warrican in one over.

Jadeja, reintroduced belatedly after lunch, dismissed Johann Layne, and Kuldeep had Jayden Seales caught and bowled to start the home leg of Gill’s Test captaincy career on a winning note.

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