India Targets to Again Dent West Indies

Jamaica: India need to dominate test matches and players cannot be content with just looking to improve, captain Virat Kohli said after the tourists thrashed West Indies by an innings and 92 runs in the first test in Antigua on Saturday.

India have never won two consecutive Tests in West Indies, and with Virat Kohli's men brimming with confidence after a clinical performance in the first game, they are not far from achieving this feat.

The margin of the victory, secured within four days, was India's largest outside Asia and gave the side a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.

While Kohli has led India to a test series win in Sri Lanka and beat South Africa 3-0 at home, their record outside South Asia in the longest format has been poor.

They have lost series in South Africa, New Zealand, England and Australia on tours since late 2013, something new coach Anil Kumble has said he wants to rectify.

The 27-year-old Kohli replaced Mahendra Singh Dhoni as India's test captain after the wicketkeeper-batsman retired from that form of cricket during the tour of Australia in late 2014.

Kohli wants his side, who are currently second behind Australia on the International Cricket Council test rankings, to target consistency as well as wins.

For West Idnies, Shannon Gabriel unnerved the opposition with sheer pace and swing on a track that did not assist the bowlers, and he will be itching to bowl on this one. Captain Jason Holder and Carlos Brathwaite bowled tight line and length but did not have the venom to run through the opposition.

Given leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo scalped 3 wickets -- inclusive of Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, he is likely to get another nod.

They will have to drop either of the all-rounders, Brathwaite and Roston Chase, will have to warm the bench.

India likely to go with same XI, had three fast bowlers -- Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav and two spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin and Amit Mishra. While pacers rattled the West Indies in the first innings, Ashwin’s off-cutter caught them in spin with his seven-for in the second.

With Kohli at the forefront with his double ton, India's batting unit looked imperious, and attributes tenacity and endurance. Therefore, making a change in the starting XI would be unnecessary.

Teams from:

India: Virat Kohli (Capt.), Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Stuart Binny, Amit Mishra

West Indies: Jason Holder (Capt.), Kraigg Brathwaite, Devendra Bishoo, Jermaine Blackwood, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Rajendra Chandrika, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich (wk), Shannon Gabriel, Leon Johnson, Marlon Samuels, Alzarri Joseph, Miguel Cummins

Stats and trivia

• 1998 Last time a Test was drawn at Sabina Park, which was between the hosts and England.
• 3-7 West Indies' win-loss record in their last ten Tests in Kingston.
• West Indies have a 6-2 win-loss record against India at this venue with the losses coming in their last two Tests in 2016, 2011
• 7 wickets by Devendra Bishoo in Tests at Sabina Park - the most by a West Indies bowler in their current squad. All those seven wickets came against India in 2011.
• 19.21 Ishant Sharma's bowling average in Tests in West Indies - easily his best in any country.
• In India's last series in West Indies in 2011 Ishant took 6 for 110 in the Test in Kingston.

Match facts
Jul 30-Aug 3, 2016
Start time: 10:00 local (15:00 GMT, 8.30pm IST)