(Reuters) – India captain Shubman Gill said his team played the “perfect game” to thump West Indies by an innings and 140 runs inside three days of the test series opener in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
India bundled out West Indies for 162 and 146 and amassed 448-5 before declaring at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Opener KL Rahul, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and stumper-batsman Dhruv Jurel made hundreds, and the hosts’ incisive bowling was backed by sharp catching.
“Very happy with the win. Honestly, I think this was a perfect game for us,” Gill, who made 50, said at the presentation ceremony.
“Three centurions in the game, and I think we fielded really well in both innings, we don’t really have any complaints.”
Against a West Indies attack depleted by the last-minute withdrawals of Alzarri Joseph and Shamar Joseph due to injury, Gill was disappointed that he and opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (36) could not make bigger contributions.
“I think it was a pretty good wicket to bat on,” he said. “We both got starts but couldn’t convert. But there were plenty of other batsmen who converted, so happy for them.”
Jadeja’s unbeaten 104 was his fifth test hundred, and he claimed four wickets to bag the player-of-the-match award.
“I have been working hard with my batting,” the India vice-captain said.
“I had a two-month off, there was no test cricket or ODIs and I worked on my skills and fitness.
“I was batting at number eight and nine a few years ago but now I got my place at six. I now have time to prepare myself and I can pace my innings.”
West Indies captain Roston Chase said it was always going to be difficult after his team’s first-innings meltdown.
“I think we probably didn’t even get any 50-run partnerships,” he said.
“And in cricket, it’s partnerships, whether you’re batting or bowling. I just think we need to string some batting partnerships together, and that will make it easier for us.”
The second and final test is scheduled starts in New Delhi on October 10.
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Ed Osmond)
