"Not many LHB have tackled Ash like that"- Fans react after West Indies debutant Alick Athanaze's knock in 1st Test vs India

Debutant batter Alick Athanaze fought alone for the West Indies side amidst a batting collapse on day 1 of the first Test against India. The two-match Test series between the two teams commenced on Wednesday, July 12, at Windsor Park in Roseau, Dominica.

West Indies batted first in the contest after winning the toss. The openers managed to keep the Indian new ball bowlers at bay with defensive batting in the first hour. In his comeback match after being ignored for the WTC final, Ravichandran Ashwin gave the first breakthrough for India by dismissing Tagenarine Chanderpaul in the 13th over.

The West Indies batting unit collapsed like a pack of cards after that. The batters lacked patience against a quality bowling attack and threw away their wickets by playing rash shots. Youngster Alick Athanaze (47 off 99 balls), who is playing his first Test, showed discipline and application at the crease while his teammates kept abandoning him at the other end.

The Southpaw tackled the veteran spin duo of Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja better than all his other Windies mates in the innings. He looked well-set for a half-century but unfortunately fell three runs short eventually. Athanaze perished before Tea break while trying to hit a big shot against Ashwin.

Here are some of the Twitter reactions:

Aayush Mahajan

@CricGlance

A 47-run knock on his Test debut vs India and in a match where the West Indies lost eight wickets for 129 runs is no mean achievement. Well played #AlickAthanaze. #WIvIND #WIvsIND #CricketTwitter

A 47-run knock on his Test debut vs India and in a match where the West Indies lost eight wickets for 129 runs is no mean achievement. Well played #AlickAthanaze. #WIvIND #WIvsIND #CricketTwitter

Karthik

@smilerkarthik16

Promising debut for Alick Athanaze , The question is never about the raw talent but about how the board utilises it

Promising debut for Alick Athanaze , The question is never about the raw talent but about how the board utilises it

inamikgreg 🇩🇲🇺🇸

@Kim_Gregoire

Tough way to get out, especially being 3 runs away from 50, but a good debut nonetheless.

Hopefully the first of many innings to come for Alick Athanaze.

#WIvIND #TestCricket

Tough way to get out, especially being 3 runs away from 50, but a good debut nonetheless.

Hopefully the first of many innings to come for Alick Athanaze.

#WIvIND #TestCricket

Arun

@WookieChew23

What a brilliant debut knock from Alick Athanaze. He's anchored this whole West Indies innings, and he's made everyone proud 🏾

What a brilliant debut knock from Alick Athanaze. He's anchored this whole West Indies innings, and he's made everyone proud 👏🏾

Stephhhhhhhh 🇩🇲✨

@steff_ahknee

Proud of you same way champ Phenomenal first innings knock. Alick Athanaze 47

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Proud of you same way champ Phenomenal first innings knock. Alick Athanaze 47 🇩🇲💚

Sahil Bhardwaj

@ImBsahil

#Alickathanaze Great innings on debut.
#WIvIND

#Alickathanaze Great innings on debut.
#WIvIND

Behram Qazi 🇵🇰 🇨🇦

@DeafMango

A rush of blood, and the Dominica native Alick Athanaze falls three short of a maiden Test half century in his debut innings.

Fourth wicket for Ashwin, as the West Indies continue to slide.

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A rush of blood, and the Dominica native Alick Athanaze falls three short of a maiden Test half century in his debut innings.

Fourth wicket for Ashwin, as the West Indies continue to slide.

Cricket Chronicle

@caughtatpoint17

A terrible shot brings an end to what was a truly promising inning by young
#AlickAthanaze he spent 142 mins at the crease for a watchful and determined 47. Guess, the rest of his teammates can learn a lot from him

A bright future awaits the Dominican

#WIvIND

2

A terrible shot brings an end to what was a truly promising inning by young
#AlickAthanaze he spent 142 mins at the crease for a watchful and determined 47. Guess, the rest of his teammates can learn a lot from him

A bright future awaits the Dominican

#WIvIND

Kartik O 🏏⚽🔗

@KOCricket528

Alick Athanaze played really well till that. Not many LHB might have tackled Ash like that , let alone on their debut #WIvIND

Alick Athanaze played really well till that. Not many LHB might have tackled Ash like that , let alone on their debut #WIvIND

Milin Kejriwal

@milinkejriwal25

A great Innings seeing the circumstances by Alick Athanaze the debutant and the local lad.
Good prospect for West Indies in future!! #WIvsIND

A great Innings seeing the circumstances by Alick Athanaze the debutant and the local lad.
Good prospect for West Indies in future!! #WIvsIND

Archith

@UtdArc

Ashwin is just too good. Too much of a genius for such games. Just rushes one through on length. Athanaze tries to hit and holes out.

Alick Athanaze though should have been a bit more selfish for the 50. Top knock until he played.

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Ashwin is just too good. Too much of a genius for such games. Just rushes one through on length. Athanaze tries to hit and holes out.

Alick Athanaze though should have been a bit more selfish for the 50. Top knock until he played.

ab (rohit's version)

@ydisskolaveridi

Well played Alick Athanaze!
Some 47s are better than 50s

Well played Alick Athanaze!
Some 47s are better than 50s

Dhaval Patel

@CricCrazy0

A debutant standing tall and scoring runs against India, I have seen this many times before.

Well played, Alick Athanaze
#WIvsIND

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3

A debutant standing tall and scoring runs against India, I have seen this many times before.

Well played, Alick Athanaze 👏
#WIvsIND https://t.co/7LgJaFTeo2

AYM

@golittlechamp

Alick Athanaze is a special talent, Masha'Allah

Alick Athanaze is a special talent, Masha'Allah

Muhammad Usama 🇵🇰

@usama_5423

Alick Athanaze Playing Really well in his debut test match good to watch him bat like this never easy to play Ashwin and Jadeja together specially on these kind of surfaces.

#WIvIND

1

Alick Athanaze Playing Really well in his debut test match good to watch him bat like this never easy to play Ashwin and Jadeja together specially on these kind of surfaces.👏

#WIvIND https://t.co/pfMnECUNub

SAPTAK SANYAL

@SAPTAKSANYAL2

Alick Athanaze is punishing the weak balls too hard and for results.

The way he drove one off Shardul Thakur through cover-point was a treat to watch.

Not easy to play in debut.
#INDvWI

1

Alick Athanaze is punishing the weak balls too hard and for results.

The way he drove one off Shardul Thakur through cover-point was a treat to watch.

Not easy to play in debut.
#INDvWI

Paritosh Kumar 🏏

@ParitoshK_2016

It's great watching Alick Athanaze bat, he is just playing his first Test match and he has been absolutely fantastic.
Let's hope that he becomes the big thing in Test Cricket.

#TestCricket | #WIvsIND | #CricketTwitter | #WIvIND | #AlickAthanaze

It's great watching Alick Athanaze bat, he is just playing his first Test match and he has been absolutely fantastic.
Let's hope that he becomes the big thing in Test Cricket.

#TestCricket | #WIvsIND | #CricketTwitter | #WIvIND | #AlickAthanaze

Yr Samar

@Yrtweets

Alick Athanaze playing really well in his debut test match good to watch him bat like this never easy to play Ashwin and jadeja together specially on these kind of surfaces.
#WIvIND

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Alick Athanaze playing really well in his debut test match good to watch him bat like this never easy to play Ashwin and jadeja together specially on these kind of surfaces.👏
#WIvIND https://t.co/k5yBRb5KO0

Krishna Kumar

@KrishnaKRM

Left handed top 6 batters debuting against Ashwin

Ed Cowan
Keaton Jennings
Danushka Gunathilaka
Hashmatullah Shahidi
Marcus Harris
Zakir Hasan
Alick Athanaze

Except for Gunathilaka, Ashwin dismissed everyone else in those tests.

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4

Left handed top 6 batters debuting against Ashwin

Ed Cowan
Keaton Jennings
Danushka Gunathilaka
Hashmatullah Shahidi
Marcus Harris
Zakir Hasan
Alick Athanaze

Except for Gunathilaka, Ashwin dismissed everyone else in those tests.

Srinjoy Sanyal

@srinjoysanyal07

Enjoyed watching two left-handers make their Test debut against India recently.

- Zakir Hasan in Chattogram
- Alick Athanaze in Roseau

Both look solid & elegant, and both of them should be around for a long time. #WIvsIND twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

1

Enjoyed watching two left-handers make their Test debut against India recently.

- Zakir Hasan in Chattogram
- Alick Athanaze in Roseau

Both look solid & elegant, and both of them should be around for a long time. #WIvsIND twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

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"I don't feel they can beat India" - Aakash Chopra previews India vs West Indies Test series

Former Indian batter Aakash Chopra recently previewed Team India's two-match Test series against West Indies in a video shared on his YouTube channel. He analyzed the depth and quality of the West Indies squad and opined that they might not have the ammunition to beat the subcontinental side.

Chopra said:

"What is the story of the opposition team? No one's numbers are very good. No matter how they play at home, good or bad, I am seeing it as a weak team. This team might push us a little because they are playing at home, but can they beat India? Personally, I don't feel they can beat India."

He added:

"The focus will be slightly on Alzarri Joseph. There is Raymon Reifer, there will be a little focus on him. There is Kraigg Brathwaite, he is a slightly dependable batter. You will see Jason Holder in the middle. Rahkeem Cornwall has been called back, Roston Chase is not there."

Do you agree with Aakash Chopra's views? Sound off in the comments section below.

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