India vs West Indies, Day 2 - Stats: Kohli and Ashwin make merry as records tumble
Despite West Indies’ attempts to stage a comeback into the contest, skipper Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin aggravated their woes with a resounding stand. Resuming from the overnight score of 302/4, India maintained a stranglehold of the 1st Test at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.
While Kohli completed his maiden double ton, Ashwin’s impressive batting record against the Windies extended to the Caribbean as well. The tall off-spinner played with responsibility to reach three figures too.
Seemingly resigned to their fate, the hosts remained content in adopting a patient approach. The fielders did not help matters with catches going down regularly in the latter part of the innings.
After declaring on a mammoth total, the Indians struck early through Mohammed Shami to set the ball rolling. Let us take a look at the most interesting statistics from the second day’s play.
1 – Kohli became the first Indian captain to score a double century away from home. He went past Mohammad Azharuddin’s 192 against New Zealand in the 1990 Auckland Test.
1 – Totals higher than the current one of 566 for India in West Indies. Rahul Dravid’s team had managed 588, courtesy centuries from Virender Sehwag, Mohammad Kaif and the skipper himself at Gros Islet in 2006.
2 – Instances when an innings had fifty-plus partnerships for the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh wickets. The previous occurrence also featured India who however were at the receiving end against Sri Lanka at Colombo in 2008.
3 – Test centuries for Ashwin against West Indies which is the same as Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev and more than Sehwag, MS Dhoni.
4 – Indian batsmen who scored hundreds during their maiden innings in the Caribbean. Ashwin joined the likes of Polly Umrigar, Brijesh Patel and Sanjay Manjrekar in achieving this feat.
5 – Double centuries by an Indian captain in Tests. Kohli joined the illustrious company of Dhoni, Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar and Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi.
7 – Batsmen who have been dismissed for 200 in Test matches. Aside from Kohli, Wally Hammond, Mohsin Khan, David Boon, Steve Waugh, Graeme Smith and Mushfiqur Rahim were also sent back after reaching this milestone.
40 – Months before which an Indian batsman posted a double hundred in Tests. Cheteshwar Pujara had recorded 204 against Australia at Hyderabad in March 2013.
76 – Runs totaled by Kohli across five innings during the 2011 Test series in West Indies. In only one innings this tour, he has scored 124 more.
113 – Ashwin posted his second highest score in Tests after eclipsing the 103 in Mumbai. Not surprisingly, the all-rounder’s best effort of 124 also came against West Indies during the 2013 Test at Eden Gardens.
163 – Leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo has now conceded the most runs by a West Indies bowler in a single innings against India at home.
200 – Kohli moved past his 169 against Australia at Melbourne to register a career-best score. This was also the first double ton for an Indian batsman outside Asia since Wasim Jaffer’s 212 in 2006.