At that moment you would have thought the elements had conspired to allow Kohli to bring up his second hundred in three Tests after a long century drought. But off-spinner Raheem Cornwell, who was allowed to play after a lengthy absence from the field due to a chest infection, made the ball turn and bounce more than Kohli expected. He could have let the ball go or taken it on the body but tried to turn it around the corner and the leg slip cleverly caught the ball, sending the former skipper back to 76.

The pitch at Windsor Park was slow, with uneven bounce, and Kohli was often unable to reach the middle of the bat when players like Roach, Jason Holder or Alzarri Joseph pitched short.

For a batsman known for his brilliant hitting game, hitting just five boundaries in 182 balls suggests that the great modern batsman was not doing well. The slow pitch and the slow pitch were in stark contrast to what was the case in the World Test Championship (WTC) final at The Oval last month. Three of those fours came in 10 innings when Kohli took advantage of some inaccurate action by the West Indies bowlers, but otherwise it was a laborious game.

While there may have been a temptation to break the shackles and be more aggressive, Kohli’s maturity suggests that he realized that was not quite what he needed, and his form and match situation demanded that he squeeze out an innings and get the West Indies to move on.That he was ready to get startedKhan, but he will be berating himself for being gently dismissed for just three points. Roach’s first serve caught the surface and bounced a little harder than Rahane expected, and he just spoon-caught the ball on short cover.

Rahane may not get another hit in this game, which makes the second Test in Port of Spain even more important for his Test future.

Playing against nature

Jaiswal made 16 deliveries before making his first Test run, and scored 171 runs. Fall