By Anil - 9 Oct '02
October 9 2002

Surrender to Virender Sehwag is perhaps the most appropriate way to sum up the proceedings of the first day of the first WI-India Test in Mumbai. When Jagmohan Dalmiya (BCCI chief) felicitated Sachin Tendulkar at his home ground, along with Carl Hooper on the occasion of their 100th Test (101st in Sachin's case), that was the best thing to have happened to the West Indian captain all day.

Sourav Ganguly won an important toss for the first time in memory, and the Indians never looked back. Although there was a tinge of green on the surface of the newly prepared pitch, it played true and did not give much assistance to the Windies seamers on a hot, humid scorcher of a day. But the hapless Windies bowlers must have agreed that Virender Sehwag's strokeplay was much hotter. India's new star batsman, whom Viv Richards has pronounced one of the most exciting batsman in the world, demolished seamers and spinners alike en route to a stupendous 147 off 206 deliveries, his highest Test score. Sanjay Bangar played steadily at the other end, providing support and the two together brought up India's highest first wicket partnership against the Windies. 9 wilting bowlers in the excrutiating heat, which necessitated two drinks breaks per session, were all treated equally disdainfully. What will worry Hooper most at the onset of the series is that his best spinner Nagamootoo could make no impact at all on the Indian batsmen and was the most expensive of his bowlers.

It was the third session before the first wicket fell. Bangar made a composed 50 and Sehwag fell a few overs later to the same bowler, Dillon. However, with Dravid and especially Tendulkar looking in ominous form, the Windies trudged back a tired and dispirited team, not looking forward to coming back for more punishment from these two tomorrow. India ended the day at a commanding 278-2, poised to take advantage of the strong opening tomorrow to establish a total which should avoid the need to bat again before winning this Test.