Virat Kohli was at his patient best on Day 1 of the ongoing second Test against West Indies, at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad. He batted like a monk to remain not out on 87 off 161 balls, pulling India out of trouble in the third session after the visitors had lost 4 wickets in the second session.
It was a day of three phases of play in three sessions on Trinidad. In the first session, India opener, captain Rohit Sharma and young Yashasvi Jaiswal, continued their good form from the first Test by putting a consecutive century stand, scoring 121/0 by Lunch.
It looked like both the openers, as they did in Dominica, will raise another century here in Port of Spain, but the West Indies bowlers made an inspiring comeback to take 4 wickets – Rohit, Jaiswal, Gill, and Rahane – in the second session to bring the game in the balance. India slipped to 182/4 at Tea.
The third session – a wicketless one – belonged to the visitors as Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja put on an unbeaten stand of 139* (194) to end Day 1 at 288/4.
On a pitch that resembled those in Asia, looking decent for batting on Day 1 but help for spinners on Day 1 itself, Virat Kohli was resolute in his defence, ran hard between the wickets, and waited patiently for loose deliveries. He took 21 balls to get off the mark and continued to accumulate in a slow but steady fashion.
One of the loose balls came from pacer Kemar Roach when Virat Kohli was on 23 off 58 and the batter pounced on it. It was a full-length half-volley outside off-stump but certainly in Kohli’s reach. The batter produced his trademark front foot cover drive to pierce the gap and earn a boundary. It was one of the shots of the day.
Here, watch: Virat Kohli’s thunderous cover drive to Roach:
Trademark cover drive from @imVkohli
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.#INDvWIonFanCode #WIvIND pic.twitter.com/rBIIFdKTN3— FanCode (@FanCode) July 20, 2023
With rain predicted for later in the game, India would want to bat big in their first innings and push for a victory by Day 4.
