The debutants, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ishan Kishan, made their mark as India won the first Test against West Indies by an inning and 141 runs. While Jaiswal received praise for his patience and resilience, Kishan’s experience was different. Despite his impressive performance as a wicketkeeper, Kishan faced criticism when he came to bat in red-ball cricket on Day 3 in Dominica. Like Jaiswal, Kishan took some time to score his first run, but his approach was not appreciated, specially by skipper Rohit Sharma.
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Rohit’s animated hand gestures were seen from the dressing room, expressing his frustration with Kishan’s lack of urgency. However, Kishan was not alone in facing difficulty in scoring runs. Nearly all the Indian batters had challenges with their scoring rates. None of the Indian batters who reached double figures achieved a strike rate higher than 50. Jaiswal and Rohit, who both scored centuries, had relatively modest strike rates of 44.18 and 46.60. The slow pitch and sluggish outfield were the main factors contributing to the overall struggle in scoring runs.
However, in the post-match conference, Rohit said he wanted Ishan Kishan to get his first runs in Test cricket before declaring the innings. ” I was just letting them know we have an over or so before declaring. I wanted Ishan to get off the mark, wanted to tell him to get his personal mark and then we had to declare. I could see that he was always eager to bat, it could be frustrating for them.”
Rohit Sharma’s reaction suggested that India had intentions of declaring the innings after Virat Kohli’s dismissal at 76. It seemed that Ishan Kishan was entrusted with the task of scoring runs quickly. However, the left-hander took 20 balls to open his account in Test cricket. When he finally scored that run, a dissatisfied Rohit Sharma promptly signaled for Kishan and Ravindra Jadeja (37*) to return to the pavilion. At that point, India’s score stood at 421/5, with a substantial lead of 271 runs.
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