Sherman Lewis

Lead West Indies pacer Kemar Roach will miss the opening Test against India as he has been forced to fly back to Barbados following the death of his grandmother.

The Rajkot weather has been quite draining. The temparauture in Rajkot on Thursday touched 38 degrees celcius. No wonder then, India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara was spotted carrying a water bottle in his pocket while batting on Day 1 of the first Test vs the West Indies.

West Indies captain Jason Holder conceded that the embarrassing back-to-back three-day defeats against India is "difficult to digest", considering pitches were batsman-friendly.

The popular reason being cited for West Indies' dismal show in Rajkot is that the current crop of players is more suited to play the shortest format of the game. But skipper Jason Holder said that in West Indies' history, the team has never won a Test match in India since 1994, a period during which Brian Lara and other greats too have been playing.

Prithvi Shaw became the first Indian batsman to score a hundred on his Ranji, Duleep and Test debut. Shaw scored 206-run off 252 balls against West Indies on Thursday. Post lunch, Shaw went on to become the youngest Indian batsman to score a hundred on debut, which came off 99 balls and included 15 fours.

India's premier spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Saturday surpassed former South African fast bowler Allan Donald on the list of most Test wickets. Ashwin had 327 wickets to his name before the first Test against the West Indies in Rajkot and the off-spinner went past Donald in style.

Kemar Roach, their leading pacer, will miss the opening Test at the SCA Stadium here as he has been forced to fly back to Barbados following the death of his grandmother. He will re-join the squad midway through the first Test beginning here on Thursday.

West Indies' bowling coach Corey Collymore was still optimistic about his team's chances in the series. "As a group, we have come here to win, doesn't matter if you are No. 1 or No. 8, so yes, that's what we are here to do," he said.

Teenager Prithvi Shaw became the youngest Indian to score a century on Test debut as the hosts took opening day honours in the first match against the West Indies on Thursday.

Roston Chase and Jason Holder's chase of 104 runs defied the Indian bowlers on the first day of the second Test between India and West Indies in Hyderabad. Had it not been for Chase's unbeaten 98 and Holder's 52 the visitors would have had to settle for less than the 297 for seven that they posted on the first day.

West Indies all-rounder Roston Chase says they are better-prepared to tackle young Indian batsman Prithvi Shaw, whose initial onslaught had set the tone for their embarrassing defeat in the first Test.

Kuldeep Yadav was amongst the wickets again in the second Test against the West Indies even as debutant Shardul Thakur limped off the field after bowling ten deliveries.

Prithvi Shaw became India's youngest centurion on debut as the hosts reached 364/4 against West Indies on the opening day of the first Test. Shaw scored 134 off 154 balls while Cheteshwar Pujara made 86.

A comprehensive beating of the West Indies at this stage can only serve as a morale-booster to the Virat Kohli-led side which faces another stern test with the Australia tour beginning late November. India have endured series losses in South Africa and England over the last nine months but have still managed to remain the number one side in the longest format.

As India plays against West Indies in the first Test match on Thursday, the curators at the SCA Stadium, Rajkot, warned the players about the pitch that had around 5-7mm grass. But the Indian players showed their confidence citing that they have played in 12mm tall grass in England before.

It’s a sad climb down from the days when the Caribbean Kings’ arrival would bring in a sense of excitement for the fans and leave the Indian cricketers nervous given their invincibility.

While it doesn't look promising for a prospect of West Indies bowling India (364/4) out, they would want to make the second new ball, which is just five overs old, count early on day two.