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| Mohammed Shami |
West Indies got
dismissed cheaply for 234 runs just after tea on the first day of the first cricket
Test between India and West
Indies at the majestic Eden
Gardens, Kolkata today.
This was brought about largely by a tremendous burst of swing bowling by
Mohammed Shami who made his Test debut too being preferred over Ishant Sharma
and Umesh Yadav due to his good performance in the recently concluded 7-match
India-Australia one day international Series. Shami took four wickets for 71
runs and was also instrumental in a run-out. The second debutant for the first
Test was Rohit Sharma who was finally given the Test cap thanks mainly to his
Series winning innings of 209 runs in the final ODI against Australia in Bangalore. Test specialists Murli Vijay,
Cheteshwar Pujara, spinner Pragyan Ojha, and of course Sachin Tendulkar featured
in Team India.
West Indies (WI)
won the toss and elected to bat first on the slow pitch at Eden Gardens.
The pitch hardly helped the bowlers—be it pacers or spinners—but WI openers
could not take advantage as the danger man Chris Gayle (18) got out early to
Bhuvaneshwar Kumar while Kieran Powell (28) gave Shami his debut break.
However, the uneven bounce in the pitch held something in store for the bowlers
and it happened sooner than expected. After forty overs the umpires changed the
ball and immediately the pacer duo got some reverse swing. Even then, it was
not the bowling but the suicidal mindset of the WI batsmen that contributed
largely to the debacle. A big partnership was in the making between Samuels
(65) and DM Bravo (23) when the Shami burst had the former bowled. Bravo
complicated matters by getting run out in a horrible mix-up. West
Indies were reduced to 143/5 when Ramdin’s stumps were uprooted by
Shami getting his third scalp. For a team used to unaccountable collapses there
was no fight back and the full team got out for 234. Chanderpaul (36), the
consistent tormentor for India,
did linger on and was the ninth down at 233.
Sachin Tendulkar,
the legend for whom this cricket Series has been organized, was prominently
visible throughout on the field giving encouragement to bowlers and running
around fielding with zest. To the delight of the crowd he took his 46th
Test wicket too trapping Shillingford leg before. With this wicket Sachin
increased his international tally of wickets to 201 (154 in ODIs and 1 in
T20I). At stumps on the first day India reached 37 for no loss in 12 overs with
Shikhar Dhawan on 21 not out and Murli Vijay on 16 not out. Fans eagerly wait
now for tomorrow when their idol comes out to bat.
