Virat Kohli. (Photo by RANDY BROOKS/AFP via Getty Images)
Former India wicketkeeper-batter Deep Dasgupta reckoned that Virat Kohli played a very good innings in the first Test against the West Indies at Windsor Park in Dominica. India outplayed the hosts in the game, winning by an innings and 141 runs thanks to centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma and a match haul of 12 wickets from Ravichandran Ashwin.
Dasgupta said that to get a flow in the Dominica pitch was challenging but Kohli played a good innings, keeping in mind the conditions. Notably, the former India skipper scored 76 runs off 182 balls, including five boundaries before being dismissed by Rahkeem Cornwall.
“That innings from Virat, an innings of attrition – that’s the kind of pitch this was. It’s very difficult to get into a flow on a pitch like this. It will always look scratchy, no matter how well you are batting. For me, it was still a very good innings, keeping in mind the conditions and how tough it was to score runs. He hung in there and you could see the hunger to get a big innings going. But on a surface like this, you are never set as a batter,” Dasgupta told ESPNcricinfo.
The conditions were very favorable for the spinners: Deep Dasgupta
Dasgupta went on to say that the Dominica pitch was favorable for spinners, describing Ashwin‘s 12-wicket haul as “unbelievable”. The 46-year-old added that if the veteran off-spinner fails to perform, Ravindra Jadeja will do the job for India. Notably, Jadeja chipped in with five wickets across two innings.
“It’s unbelievable (12 wickets). Obviously, the conditions were very favorable for the spinners. Then again, this highlights how good Ravichandran Ashwin is and has been over the years and why he should be one of the first names up in the playing XI.
“If Ashwin doesn’t get you, obviously [Ravindra] Jadeja will and if there is an opportunity then, if these two can’t, then Axar [Patel] might if he is part of the playing XI. So, I think this is a really solid performance from both the spinners – Ashwin and Jadeja. They are so good together especially when there is a little bit of help from the surface,” the former cricketer concluded.