Recent Match Report - West Indies vs India 1st Test 2023

Toss West Indies chose to bat vs India

West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite won the toss and opted to bat against India in the first Test at Windsor Park in Roseau, Dominica.

Brathwaite said there was moisture in the surface, and the first hour would be crucial. West Indies handed a debut to local batter Alick Athanaze. Last month, Athanaze had scored a blazing half-century on his ODI debut against UAE in Sharjah.

India handed debuts to two left-hand batters: Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ishan Kishan, also the wicketkeeper for this Test. On the eve of the game, Rohit Sharma had revealed that Jaiswal would open the innings, with Shubman Gill moving down to No. 3 in the absence of Cheteshwar Pujara. Kishan will bat in the middle order.

In the absence of the experienced Mohammed Shami, India’s seam attack comprises Mohammed Siraj, Jaydev Unadkat, and Shardul Thakur. R Ashwin returns to the XI after being left out for the World Test Championship final. He will accompany Ravindra Jadeja in the spin department.

West Indies, too, went in with two spinners in Jomel Warrican and Rahkeem Cornwall.

While the West Indies has been the most seam-friendly part of the cricket world since the start of 2020, Roseau has been more conducive to spin. However, this is the first Test at this venue in six years.

West Indies: 1 Kraigg Brathwaite (capt), 2 Tagenarine Chanderpaul, 3 Raymon Reifer, 4 Jermaine Blackwood, 5 Alick Athanaze, 6 Jason Holder, 7 Joshua Da Silva (wk), 8 Rahkeem Cornwall, 9 Alzarri Joseph, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Jomel Warrican
India: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3 Shubman Gill, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Ishan Kishan (wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Shardul Thakur, 10 Jaydev Unadkat, 11 Mohammed Siraj

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