India eye a victorious start to the latest edition of the World Test Championship as West Indies challenge comes knocking

After a disappointing defeat in the World Test Championship 2021-23 final at the hands of Australia, India will be hoping to restart their new campaign on a high as they face West Indies in the first Test of a two-match series. Blending experience and youth, the Indian team will be hoping to find the right balance for the team that would be going head-on against the might of the Islanders.

West Indies would be arriving at this fixture on the back of a disappointing campaign in the recently concluded World Cup qualifiers. Despite being victorious against Oman, they slumped down to the likes of Sri Lanka, Scotland, Netherlands and Zimbabwe, blighting their campaign completely. They played their last Test in the ongoing calendar year back in February where they were steamrolled by South Africa and the last time they hosted India, they were thrashed 2-0 by the visitors.

Seeking redemption, they will be expected to go hard at India, that too in familiar home conditions. Dominica will be hosting its first Test match in six years and with the weather forecast being dictated by fragmented bursts of rain while the sun plays peek-a-boo, a lot rests on how the teams approach the contest with those conditions in mind too.

Ground Watch:

A total of five Tests have been played at Windsor Park so far where two have been won batting first while two have been won chasing. The average first innings score is 246 while it leaps up to 302 in the second. However, the third and the fourth innings has witnessed a sharp receding in the numbers. The track is usually conducive for the pacers as there will be swing and bounce on offer but as the day progresses, despite a decent carry, the track would lose its hardness, allowing the batters to settle in comfortably.

Stats:

Sunil Gavaskar is the leading run-scorer in the Indo-Caribbean rivalry in the longest format of the game with 2749 runs at an average of 65.45 that also features 13 centuries.

The current Indian coach, Rahul Dravid is the next leading Indian run-scorer against West Indies in Test cricket with 1978 runs scored at an average of 63.80.

Kapil Dev has the highest number of wickets against West Indies in Test cricket that stars 89 scalps from 41 innings, featuring four fifers.

Kapil Dev’s 9/83 is the closest that an Indian has come to paralleling the record of Anil Kumble, Jim Laker and Ajaz Patel who hold the herculean feat of clinching 10 wickets in a Test innings.

Head to head:

Matches played: 90

India: 22

West Indies: 30

Draws: 46

Match Details:

Match: West Indies vs India

Venue: Windsor Park, Dominica

Date: 12th July, 2023

Time: 7:30 PM IST

Squads:

India:

Rohit Sharma (captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini.

West Indies:

Kraigg Brathwaite (captain), Jermaine Blackwood (vice-captain), Joshua Da Silva (wicket-keeper), Alick Athanaze, Rahkeem Cornwall, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Raymon Reifer, Kemar Roach, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Kirk McKenzie, Jomel Warrican.