India vs West Indies, 1st Test: 3 things learned from Day 1

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The inaugural day of the 2-match Test series was completely dominated by India and they ended up at 364/4. The day began with a disappointing duck from Rahul on a good batting strip. But the teenage sensation Prithvi Shaw was in no mood to spare the West Indies bowlers and punished them hard for their undisciplined bowling, with a free-flowing century that came at a rate of just above run a ball.

Pujara played his natural game but made sure the bad balls were out away throughout his knock of 86. After Shaw’s departure, Rahane and Kohli combined for a decent partnership and the duo were barely troubled by the Windies bowlers. Rahane fell to Roston Chase just before the end of day 1 but Kohli remained unbeaten after another flawless batting performance. Here are the 3 things we learned from the day’s play.

#1 Shaw’s brilliant stroke-making ability

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Shaw has been constantly on the mind of Indian fans after captaining India to the under-19 World Cup victory and with his string of impressive performances at the end of IPL. He showed the whole world his talent on the big stage with one of the most entertaining Test centuries of this year.

He had little respect for the Windies pace bowlers and was constantly hitting the ball above their heads with no fear, which would have reminded many Indian fans of Sehwag during his heyday. His cut shot over the point fielder’s head was a sight to behold and it was the highlight of the day. He looked slightly less comfortable against Bishoo but he is still young and the more time he gets, the more he is going to learn.