Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua
West Indies
India
West Indies
India
Man of the Match: Ajinkya Rahane
?In the last 20 Test Matches between the two sides, India has won 11 and the rest have ended in a draw
?Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara have been in great form in Test cricket and would pose a tough challenge for West Indian bowlers
?Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammad Shami have been good in Test cricket over the last two years and are likely to trouble West Indian batting.
CRICBETTINGBUZZ PREDICTION: India to win the game
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The Indian team has had a good tour of the Caribbean so far. They won the T20 series 3-0 and repeated similar show in the ODI series pocketing it 2-0. The action now moves to the 1st Test Match at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua. The home side has been struggling to get their combination right so far and hasn’t been able to challenge the Indian team. This is something they would like to work out going into the next game.
Over the last few years, the West Indian side had not had the best of performance against the Indian side. In fact, the last time the West Indies had managed to win a Test Match against India was back in 2002 and none of the players in the sides had even made their debut. It would be an uphill challenge for the West Indies side and it would be interesting to see how they approach the game.
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Jason Holder has a huge task on his hand going into this game. His side hasn’t shown good form in the series so far and they need to bounce back to challenge the Indians. Holder would like his side to draw inspiration from the way they played against England at home earlier in the year when they won the series 2-0.
Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell shall have to offer a good start to the side going into this Test Match. Both players have great potential. In the middle order, the side has good players in Shai Hope, Darren Bravo and Roston Chase. With Shimron Hetmyer, Shane Dowrich and Holder at the bottom, the side bats deep and they would need to stand up against the quality pace attack that India has.
They have a quality pace attack led by the skipper Holder. Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel have done well in the last series against England and they would go into the game with confidence. Roston Chase and Rakheem Cornwall would be expected to do well with the old ball during the game.
Kemar Roach, Darren Bravo, Jason Holder, John Campbell, Shimron Hetmyer, Shannon Gabriel, Roston Chase, Shai Hope, Shamarh Brooks, Kraigg Brathwaite, Miguel Cummins
Jason Holder (C), Kraigg Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, John Campbell, Roston Chase, Rakheem Cornwall, Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Kemar Roach
Virat Kohli would start confidently in the upcoming game having bagged the T20 and ODI series pretty easily. As the No. 1 ranked Test side in the world, they come into this game after their historic Test series win in Australia. Kohli would want his players to continue with their form going into this game.
Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul would have to see off the new ball and it would be a big challenge for the young opening pair. Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma solidify the middle order for the side. Rishabh Pant would like to continue with the good form he has had in Test cricket and Ravichandran Ashwin would be looking to add to his tally of scores against the West Indies.
Indian pace attack comprising of Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma has done well in the last two seasons and they would look to offer a good start to the side. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja would test the West Indian batsmen who aren’t known to be the best players of spin bowling.
Lokesh Rahul, Ajinkya Rahane, Mayank Agarwal, H Vihari, Ravindra Jadeja, JJ Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant, Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami
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R | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
V Kohli | 114 | 99 | 14 | 0 | 115.15 |
S Iyer | 65 | 41 | 3 | 5 | 158.54 |
S Dhawan | 36 | 36 | 5 | 0 | 100 |
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O | M | R | W | Econ |
K Ahmed | 7.0 | 0 | 68 | 3 | 9.71 |
M Shami | 7.0 | 1 | 50 | 2 | 7.14 |
Y Chahal | 7.0 | 0 | 32 | 1 | 4.57 |
![]() |
O | M | R | W | Econ |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
K Ahmed | 7.0 | 0 | 68 | 3 | 9.71 |
M Shami | 7.0 | 1 | 50 | 2 | 7.14 |
Y Chahal | 7.0 | 0 | 32 | 1 | 4.57 |
Virat Kohli (C), Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma
The weather forecast between August 22 and 26 is of bright and sunny conditions with some chances of showers on Day 3. The pitch is likely to offer bounce and carry on Day 1 and it is likely to get better to bat on Day 2 and 3. Spinners would like bowling here in the third and the fourth innings.
VENUE
Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua is one of the best venues for Test cricket. There is good bounce and carry on Day 1 while Day 2 and 3 usually belongs to the batsmen. Spinners also get their bargain on the last two days of the game. Batsmen who have played the waiting game here have done well and scored tons of runs.
In the last 10 games at his venue, the side that has bowled first has gone on to win 7 games and has lost only once. There is assistance for the fast bowlers on Day 1 on this surface and the side winning the toss would like to exploit this by inviting the opposition to bat first on this surface.
The West Indian team would be up against huge baggage of not having defeated India for more than 15 years in this format. While the team looks good on paper especially their fast bowlers it would be a big challenge for them against the quality players that Indians have. The Indian team has looked rock-solid in the tour so far and have one of the best batting line-ups and a pace battery and they would start as favorites to win this game.
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