India win by innings and 272 runs
Rajkot, Oct 6 : India pulled off their biggest win over West Indies in one of the most ludicrous mismatches in recent times, inflicting on the hapless visitors an innings and 272-run humiliation inside three days in the first Test here Saturday.
India dominated the game, amassing 649 for nine in their first innings before bowling out the West Indies twice on day three, to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.
They were bundled out for 181 in 48 overs before lunch and were expectedly forced to follow-on. They did not fare any better in the second innings, crumbling to 196 all out in 50.5 overs in the final session.
While Ravichandran Ashwin (4/37) was the pick of the bowlers in the morning, Kuldeep Yadav (5/57) was all over the opposition batsmen in the second innings on way to a maiden five-wicket haul in Tests.
The second and final Test will be played in Hyderabad from October 12-16. The West Indies will have to lift themselves to put up a better performance after being thoroughly outplayed in Rajkot. The absence of captain Jason Holder and pacer Kemar Roach also added to their woes.
For India, the game will be best remembered for the emergence of Prithvi Shaw, who announced his arrival in international cricket with a classy hundred on debut, becoming the youngest from the country to do so in Tests. Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja were the other centurions.
By tea on Saturday, it became clear that the game will be done and dusted inside three days with the West Indies batsmen cutting a sorry picture at 185 for eight.
Opener Kieran Powell was the only West Indian batsmen to make a significant contribution in the second essay, an entertaining 83 off 93 balls with eight boundaries and four sixes.
Ashwin was their main tormentor in the morning and in the afternoon it was Kuldeep's turn to dominate. The opposition batsmen, who needed to bat for time, seemed to be in a hurry to finish the game. Punishing a loose ball is fine but they went for far too many strokes and paid the price for their recklessness.
Kuldeep thrived on that, mixing it up nicely to fox the batsmen. After he trapped Shai Hope in front for his first wicket, he removed the highly-rated Shimron Hetmyer who went for a wild slog across the line to be caught at short third man. He used his googly to send back Sunil Ambris, who stepped out without having any idea of the way the ball will turn.
In the morning session, Ashwin produced a brilliant spell as India enforced the follow-on.
At lunch, the West Indies were 33 for one in nine overs in their second innings with Ashwin removing skipper Kraigg Brathwaite (10) for his fourth wicket of the day.
The West Indies, resuming their first innings at 94 for six, lasted only an hour and 10 minutes, mainly due to efforts of Roston Chase (53) and Keemo Paul (47) who ended up sharing a 73-run stand. Ashwin ran through the tail on a pitch offering plenty of turn, ending with four for 37 in 11 overs as the West Indies were all out in 48 overs.
India started with the spin-pace combination of Kuldeep and Mohammad Shami. Surprisingly, Chase and Paul had little difficulty in picking the chinaman, who bowled the first over the day. Paul went on the offensive straightaway, sweeping Kuldeep for two crisp boundaries.
Paul was the aggressor in the partnership but Chase also came up with a few attractive shots.
Paul was comfortable against Kuldeep but had issues dealing with the short ball. Umesh Yadav set the West Indian up nicely before getting rid of him with a perfectly placed bouncer as he mistimed a pull to be caught at midwicket.
Ashwin then removed Chase with a beauty, a flighted ball that turned in viciously to create a big gap between bat and pad before crashing into the stumps, leaving the West Indies at 159 for eight. Number 10 and 11 were easy meat for Aswhin who sent them back with the away turning ball.
India expectedly enforced the follow-on with less than an hour to go for lunch.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Kashmir issue is bilateral between India and Pakistan: MEA
New Delhi, May 13 (PTI): India on Tuesday said its long-standing position on Kashmir has been that it is a bilateral issue between New Delhi and Islamabad and there is no change of this stand.
The assertion came against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump's renewed offer to mediate on the Kashmir issue.
"We have a longstanding national position that any issues pertaining to the Indian Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir have to be addressed by India and Pakistan bilaterally," external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
"That stated policy has not changed. As you are aware, the outstanding matter is the vacation of illegally occupied Indian territory by Pakistan," he said.
Jaiswal was responding to a question on Trump's offer.
On speculation on nuclear war by Trump, Jaiswal said the military action was entirely in the conventional domain.
"There were some reports that Pakistan's National Command Authority will meet on May 10. But this was later denied by them. Pakistan foreign minister has himself denied the nuclear angle on record," Jaiswal said.
"As you know, India has a firm stance that it will not give in to nuclear blackmail or allow cross-border terrorism to be conducted invoking it," he said.
"In conversations with various countries, we also cautioned that their subscribing to such scenarios could hurt them in their own region," he added.
Jaiswal said India will keep Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures support for cross-border terrorism.
Pakistan nurtured terrorism on an industrial scale, he said.
Terrorist infrastructure that India destroyed under Operation Sindoor were responsible not only for the deaths of Indians but of many other innocents around world, he said.
