Live report - Rahul and Gill put India in the lead against WI

WI might not want the new ball. This one seems to be reversing. Jayden Seales tested Dhruv Jurel's defence with the shiny side on the inside and the ball homing in on his pads. He's survived one very strong lbw appeal. India's efforts in the morning, particularly through the first hour West Indies were rather tame, has put them on very good ground. Facing these threats when you're behind in the game would've been tough.

An unusually green pitch greeted everyone two days out from the start of the Test match. Jomel Warrican was asked about it and he seemed certain the grass would be shaved off by the time the action started. It wasn't. There were still about 4-5mm in on a red-soil pitch.

Karthik Krishnaswamy and Nagraj Gollapudi snooped around for us and found out that "red-soil pitches tend to offer excellent bounce and carry when held together by grass. Without this binding, however, they have the tendency to crumble rapidly into dustbowls." That crumbling is happening right now.

And it's resulted in a change of intent from India. It's almost like they know letting a spinner settle in on a length right now (which Jadeja, Kuldeep and Washy would be keen to do later) is like inviting a batting collapse. This has resulted in Rahul's wicket for 100 but also the lead has all of a sudden shot up to 81. India have made 27 runs in four overs after lunch. Ravi Shastri on commentary suggested a lead of 150-200 would be very handy in these conditions.

Jomel Warrican bowled only two overs before lunch. He starts this time right after the break and he takes down Rahul for 100. It was curious given how the pitch was responding to their spinners. WI preferred their debutant left-arm spinner Pierre bowling through the morning.

Soft dismissal for Rahul. He hasn't always shown the care he does when he plays away from home. Perhaps that's a sign that he thinks he can't just defend his way through the challenges this pitch is offering, with the rough playing its part. Sees a tossed up delivery, wide outside off, and lashes at it and gets caught at cover. Either he should've found the gap, or kept it down. Solid century, strange dismissal, reminiscent of his 84 in Hyderabad against England where he looked to attack a spinner and got caught playing an aggressive shot. That time the opposition was let back in and they went on to win.

India go to lunch with a lead of 56. They've made 97 runs in 29 overs this morning. WI had a chance to put a dent into them early, but Rahul got a life on 57 in the very first over of the day and has made the most of it, scoring his 11th Test century and walking off unbeaten at the break.

He's had 12 fifty plus score in 33 innings at home. But this is still only his second hundred. KL Rahul always had the ability but since he's been able to fortify his defence - playing late, close to the body and with soft hands - and since he learnt to appreciate leaving the ball outside off - there's been a change in his output. He's essentially the spine of this batting line-up, averaging nearly 50 over the last year or so which is a comfortable improvement over his career figure.

Rahul missed a lot of the last home season, injured in the England series, overlooked in the New Zealand series. Now he's one of the first names on the team sheet. He celebrates the century by raising his bat up in one hand and sticking two fingers of the other in his mouth, almost like a little kid, which he now has. He became a father recently and that might be a little tribute to the new life in his life.

Since WI were alerted to the damage a ball out of the rough can cause in the 52nd over, they've managed to target it well enough to stymie the rate of scoring.

Rahul too is looking to put them off from accessing that area, he's going conventional sweep and finds a boundary in the 61st over, which is the back end of the sequence.

So no century on home captaincy debut then. Roston Chase takes out his opposite number for 50, a reverse sweep straight into the hands of slip. It's not exactly his shot. He played one in the Asia Cup and it felt like a sign. A conventional batter trying to show he has the gears for modern day T20 cricket. The one he played here is to try and put the spinners off from hitting the rough. Doesn't pan out.

India now into the allrounders with Dhruv Jurel, the wicketkeeper coming out.

He was 18 off 42 at the start of the day, with one boundary. He's reached 50 off just 94 with five boundaries. The acceleration (32 off 52) may simply be a batter taking what's on offer from a wayward attack, or maybe a little bit of hangover from playing T20 cricket. Karthik Krishnaswamy analysed the unique place of Gill as he juggles his various responsibilities in all three formats of cricket.

At one end, there is a rough spot bang in front of the right-hander, on leg stump or so. Khary Pierre is able to land one on it and it has KL Rahul in trouble, the batter looking to hit against the turn and the ball exploding out of the dirt to take his leading edge.

This rough was created by Jayden Seales' followthrough. It's likely to prove influential though it looks more like a Ravindra Jadeja thing than a Kuldeep Yadav thing. No wait, it will be a Kuldeep Yadav and a Washington Sundar thing when the left-handers bat.

The other end looks fairly bare. No major rough spots to worry about.

Those boundaries at the start of this sequence, in the 46th and 47th overs, spelled real danger. KL Rahul nailed the cut shot. He's very very good at it. Shubman Gill nailed the short-arm pull. He's very very good at it. That both batters are pulling off their signature shots suggest they are starting to feel very very comfortable. India in the lead now and are happily peppering the boundaries.

There are signs that WI are working on a way back in. They've spotted Shubman Gill's tendency to plant his leg across his stumps when he defends and are probing away on that lbw. Gill too looked visibly disappointed when he went chasing after a full and wide one from Seales. There is a contest here, certainly in the morning session. WI have to be up for it. Their captain needs to believe more.

Jayden Seales has a lovely outswinger. It's a function of how well he presents the seam. Ian Bishop on commentary rated it very highly. KL Rahul plays with soft hands. So if he does make a mistake, and an edge happens, it goes fine. It is the first over of the morning. The batters need to get set again, so no matter the score they're on, there is a heightened vulnerability.

So why then did WI go funky so early? They had just one slip in and he was pushed off to the side, left to watch as Seales pulls off that perfect outswinger and Rahul makes that terrible mistake and the edge flies between slip and wicketkeeper for four. There is room for funk in Test cricket but maybe not in the first over of a fresh day where there is still help for the fast bowlers. They should've had Rahul for 57. Instead, they pay for focusing on mitigating runs rather than looking for wickets.

West Indies finished eighth out of nine teams in both the World Test Championships so far and are currently placed last among all the sides that have taken part in this one. It appears they have identified the rot that has led them down this path - decline in player skills, the ways the domestic cricket system is failing to prepare them for bigger challenges and a lack of specialist coaching support at almost every level.

Surely the system is not so broken when it can bring through players like Jayden Seales and Alick Athanaze. There is a definite need for improvement and, after 27 all out, a need for introspection. But a lot of it might just happen organically. Maybe it might even start today with someone putting their hand up.

India's bowlers took control of the first home Test of the season. Now it's up to their batters to put it out of sight of the opposition.

West Indies have had time to regroup. The came over shorn of much of their first-choice bowlers, to the extent that they've had to hand out debuts to a 22-year-old and a 34-year-old to put an XI on the park. They're up against it. But they're certainly not out of it.

If there was any anxiety about India's performance this home season, the first day's play went a long way to allaying them. Weakened they might be with the retirements of three legends, wounded they might be after losing the last series here 0-3, there is still plenty of fire. West Indies came under it and couldn't really muster up a response. After choosing to bat, they were bowled out for 162 with time to spare for the tea break.

Mohammed Siraj picked up where he left off after his Iron Man efforts in England. He focused on pitching the ball up. He targeted the top of the stumps. He didn't give the batter any easy reprieves and that was enough for him to pick up four of the first five wickets to fall. He thought he had a fifth - which would've been a landmark moment because he doesn't have a five-for at home - but DRS took it away. Jasprit Bumrah, his new-ball partner, offered him a pat on the back when replays showed the lbw shout against Justin Greaves being struck down but didn't seem to be so sympathetic when he started ripping out the tail with his yorkers. Eventually Siraj had to settle for figures of 4 for 40.

A comfortable day's play offered opportunity for India to make further gains, particularly their new man at No. 3. But Sai Sudharsan's dismissal for 7 off 19 only served as a reminder that this team is still transitioning and that without Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, R Aswhin and Rishabh Pant, who is only injured, there are vulnerabilities. KL Rahul papered over them with a no-nonsense half-century. India went to stumps trailing by 41.

When he moved from 43 to 46, Rahul yelped in pain. It's his right leg. He clutches the back of his knee after playing a really good cut shot, backing away and creating room for himself to get on top of a Roston Chase offbreak. He needed a break and time with the physio. It looked a little like cramp. He wasn't able to run when play resumed and was bouncing up and down at the non-strikers' end trying to set himself right. Seems to have worked because he has brought up his fifty and looks hungry for more.

Rahul has played only one match since India's tour of England ended in August. That though was in the extreme heat of Lucknow and he made 176 against Australia A. So his fitness should be alright.

Oooh, that's a bad shot. Sai Sudharsan has impressed a lot of the right people with his attitude, though most of those accolades were for his work in the IPL.

When he debuted in Tests, he had a first-class average in the 30s. India haven't taken punts like that on a top-order batter since WV Raman.

They seem set to give Sai Sudharsan a long rope. They see him as an organised player and as someone who can withstand high quality bowling. But in England, he suffered a pattern of dismissals where he kept getting caught down the leg side. Here, he misjudges the length - it's too full to go for the pull - and gets plumb lbw to Roston Chase.

Two ducks, this 7 off 19 and one fifty in seven innings so far for India's new No. 3. Still a small enough sample size to merit leniency. India will certainly give him this series and the South Africa series as well. But after that...

Jaiswal enjoys playing the cut and often takes liberties with it. Sometimes the length won't be short enough. Sometimes the line won't be wide enough. Instinct just kicks in and he goes for it. Here Seales is able to hit the deck nice and hard, get the ball to nip in which the left-hander isn't prepared for. On top of that, there is extra bounce. So in the end, though it was a short ball, it ends up being the worst possible one to cut.

B Sai Sudharsan follows Sourav Ganguly (vs SA in 2008) as the next left-hand batter to play at No. 3 for India in home Tests

The fifty partnership between Rahul and Jaiswal is up. It's their fifth in 22 innings. Runs flowing freely after the break

Jaiswal before rain break: 4 off 36

Jaiswal after rain break: 19 off 11

Somewhere in Ahmedabad, there is a switch that was once off now very much on

Rahul and Jaiswal was a hastily put together opening partnership for India on their tour of Australia last year. Since then, they've shown great affinity for each other. Today, their first runs came from an almost telepathic understanding. Rahul knocked the ball with soft hands into midwicket and said "yeah". Jaiswal was off.

There's a nice contrast in the way they play as well, Rahul letting the ball come to him and meeting it under his eyes. Jaiswal, when he attacks, goes hard at the ball, whether it's on the front foot or the back foot. There were signs of Rahul's growth as a leader in this team in Australia, when Jaiswal and Nitish Kumar Reddy said they go up to him for advice and for help to stay calm in the middle.

Jaiswal's attacking shots haven't come off just yet, perhaps a sign of some rust given he's played only one game of competitive cricket since the England tour ended in August.

A peek into the mind of Jayden Seales, who has 88 wickets in 22 matches at a ridiculously good strike rate of 39.

"My father would show me old clips of Sir Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, and all the legends of West Indies cricket when they were dominating world cricket. From seeing and hearing how people spoke of West Indies when I was growing up and watching the games as well, when we weren't doing very well, it kind of made me say: when I grow up, I want to be the one to try and bring back West Indies cricket to that level."

Siraj is denied a first five-for at home, and back-to-back five-fors in Tests. But he's the one all of his team-mates go to for high-fives and he's the one who leads them all off the field. Took four of the first five wickets to fall and was in the middle of one of his wrecking-ball spells.

Siraj thought he had the landmark when he was still in his 11th over when DRS intervened (and rightly). Key to his success was the focus he placed on hitting the top of the stumps. Seventy-four of his eight-four deliveries (88%) were pitched up. An identical number also ended up in line with the stumps or just outside off.

West Indies were 90 for 5 at lunch. Roston Chase and Shai Hope offered some resistance but it didn't last. Justin Greaves top-scored with 32. His wicket cleared the way for WI to be bowled out for 162 with time to spare for tea. Jasprit Bumrah chipped in with a three-for that took him to 50 wickets in 24 innings in home Tests, joint-quickest to the mark alongside Javagal Srinath.

He got to 49 with a little bit of trickery, seeing Justin Greaves had a huuuge backlift, that also goes out into the off side before it comes down, so he beats it with an inswinging yorker.

Earlier in the session, Bumrah gave Siraj a pat on the back after DRS took away what he thought was a fifth wicket. Now, having wrecked WI's tail to the extent that they are nine down, Bumrah finishes the over by bowling well wide of off stump to give his partner a chance. Srinath bowled wide for Kumble to get 10. This might not be that but close enough.

They have had highs - the win against Australia at the Gabba. Their fast bowlers still raise the hair in the back of your neck. It's a shame the two Josephs are injured and couldn't be part of the tour. But Jayden Seales will be fun. He's very direct with his lengths, pitching them up looking for bowleds and lbws, trusting that his pace can beat anybody.

WI Test batters are yet to match up. It feels like a long time since one of them lit up the world. It happens all the time in T20 cricket though. Since the days of Lara, all of their greats - Pollard, Bravo, Narine, Russell - came to be known for what they did in white-ball cricket. Gayle managed the straddle all three formats, with triple centuries in Tests, double-centuries in ODIs and centuries in T20Is. But as time has gone on, the wait for the next great WI batter just keeps on increasing.

And with talk that the WTC may be split into two tiers, what will it mean for their future? Might they benefit from playing teams of similar quality? Or will the lack of matches against better teams limit their ability to grow?

Siraj thought he had five (after just 66 deliveries). Greaves reviews the lbw shout and replays show the ball is missing leg stump. Coolest thing about that was while every Indian fielder was disappointed, Bumrah is the only one giving Siraj a pat on the back because he knows that five-for feeling. He knows it's not nice when it's taken away. Siraj is in rhythm though. It might only be a matter of time. His lengths have been so good. Leaving him alone has been impossible.

Sampath Bandarupalli from our stats desk: Khary Pierre's Test, ODI and T20I debuts have come vs India in India. Only other man to make his debut in all three formats against India in India is Joe Root.

He created a steep angle into Roston Chase, going a touch wider on the crease. Kept the length up too. Around the knee-roll. Chase has no choice but to play, to protect his stumps. He closes the face, because the ball was supposed to be coming into him. But after pitching, it goes the other way and in the end practically takes a leading edge through to the keeper. The grass in the pitch making its presence felt, harnessed, of course, by a very good fast bowler

India began their home season by reducing West Indies to 90 for 5 at lunch on a green pitch in Ahmedabad. Mohammed Siraj took three of those wickets, picking up where he left off after his Iron Man efforts during the England tour earlier this year. Kuldeep Yadav who was surplus to requirements then, produced a reminder of his considerable skill when he conjured the ball of the day to clean up Shai Hope's stumps and carry his team off to lunch on a high.

This West Indies XI has nine centuries in it. Two of their top three have yet to contribute to that count. The other one has a double, but he was returning after a 20-month break. Tagenarine Chanderpaul would be sorely disappointed with his return - out for a duck, caught down the leg side. But there were others who had reasons to feel more guilty. Brandon King left a straight ball to knock down his middle stump.

Alick Athanaze looked steady, especially after he got through a nervous first few deliveries where it seemed like he was anxious to feel bat on ball. The West Indian No. 3 was just starting to gain confidence in his defence when Siraj preyed on his inexperience and came up with the wicket. He had seen the batter settling in nicely and decided to tease him with a fuller delivery. Had the length been shorter, Athanaze might have been more circumspect with his shot. The fact that it was pitched up had his juices flowing and he went for a big booming drive and was caught at slip.

Jasprit Bumrah, at the Asia Cup, was partly bowling his team to victory and partly testing his fitness out for these Test matches. Early indications were that his rhythm is on point. He took only one wicket of a highly productive first session but had to work for it, convincing his captain that there were two sounds as the ball passed John Campbell's bat, which had also hit his pad. Replays provided enough evidence of an edge to overturn the on-field umpire's not-out decision.

India's bowling wasn't at its threatening best - there were seven fours in the first 10 overs - but they were better at the basics than their opposition.

Ball of the day so far. And he needed less than two overs to pull it off.

The plan had three parts. First comes the drift. It suckers the right-hander into thinking he has a lot of room to free his arms. The second is the dip. The ball drops on him before he can reach the pitch. The revs that Kuldeep puts on the ball are the reason he gets the dip. They're also the reason he gets the turn, which is part three. Turn right through the gap between bat and pad as Hope's cover drive is completely beaten and his castle is ransacked just on the stroke of lunch. WI 90 for 5.

The India wristspinner's first over in Test cricket for more than a year.

Roston Chase was beaten by a googly earlier in the over but ends it strong with a reverse swept four. It marked a sequence of three overs with boundaries

Shai Hope has looked like his old self. Came back after nearly four years out this June against Australia but didn't have the same impact he used to. Here, he's been decisive with his footwork and his attacking shots have been measured well. The drives don't take his hands too far away from his body and his strength - back foot play - has already been on show.

A big moment. India turn to spin on the first morning of a home Test and it is not R Ashwin. For over a decade - the one where this team was unbeatable in their backyard - he led their bowling line-up. Ravindra Jadeja is a pretty useful option to step into the void, and he almost got Roston Chase out caught at short leg in the first over. West Indies have been paying a lot of attention to negating spin on this tour, Chase saying their batters have been training to play sweeps and try coming down the track and not get bogged down.

The hopes WI have placed on their next gen haven't quite manifested. Alick Athanaze got big props from Brian Lara as he began his career and there were times that he showed quality - particularly after a nervous first few balls where it looked like he just had to feel bat on ball. Slowly, he was showing confidence in his defence. So Siraj teaaaased him. He floated one up outside off. And Athanaze took the bait. Out came the big booming drive on the up and pop went the catch to second slip.

Siraj has three wickets in six overs. He might be on one of his rolls (except he's not. He's being helped by the batting). King left one he should've played and got bowled. Athanaze played one he should've left and got caught.

West Indies had two left-handers opening. Their one-down is a left-hander as well. All of them have been unsure at the crease. We have the numbers for that. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj have produced a false shot once every three balls against left-hand batters.

Bumrah is a genius. He's been able to move the same ball in the air one way and then off the pitch the other way. Siraj matches him in his own way, his wobble seam ball helping him test both the edges. Neither man has been in top form but the batting hasn't really threatened them.

To put that in perspective, Brandon King lets a ball pitching very close to his stumps go on and hit it. He shoulders arms and loses his middle stump. His middle stump. That's a really bad misjudgment. WI 39 for 3 in the first hour after deciding to bat.

And he really worked for it. "Two sounds" he said to his captain to convince him to challenge umpire Illingworth not-out call against John Campbell. Gill wasn't sure. And the reason for that becomes clear with the replay. Campbell's bat hits pad exactly as the ball hits the edge. Paul Reiffel, up in the TV umpire's box, takes his time figuring it all out. "Two spikes", he says watching UltraEdge. The first for bat hitting pad. The second for ball hitting edge. He also takes the time to confirm that, asking the broadcasters to let the play roll so he can check if there's a deflection, a change in the ball's trajectory. There is. Good process.

Both WI openers back. India's quicks once again show how dangerous they are just by keeping the stumps in play, forcing the batter to make those split-second decisions that their careers rely on. Bumrah was partly bowling India to wins at the Asia Cup, and partly testing his rhythm for this Test series. He looks good. Speeds up around 135kph. He's getting the ball to swing in and seam away. Occasionally, encouraged by the help he's getting, he tried going too straight or too full, tried to go searching for the wicket. Now he's back to hitting that good length spot.

Picks up where he left off after that Iron Man effort at the Oval. West Indies haven't been able to score a run off him this morning. Now they've also lost a wicket. Tagenarine Chanderpaul tickles one down leg and walks. Doesn't wait for the ump. Out for a duck.

India would've wanted an early strike after having to bowl in conditions that have offered a bit. There's been both-ways movement even if there's not been a lot of pace and carry. Disappointing end for Chanderpaul, who was making his return to Test cricket after 21 months out.

The idea of targeting West Indies' left-handers on middle and leg gets a clear focus with Shubman Gill taking one of the three slips out and installing a leg slip.

India appear to have settled on giving B Sai Sudharsan a long rope. That, in addition to the way their batting will function, shapes their slip cordon as well. Shubman Gill is at first slip. KL Rahul at second and he's manning third. Yashasvi Jaiswal reprises his usual position at gully. India tended to have a lot of ins and outs with catchers behind the wicket. They'll hope these four stay steady for a while yet.

He'll be safely tucked away in the dressing room now, but one of the two West Indies debutants got a big up from Ian Bishop earlier this year.

"Johann [Layne] is tall, he's wiry, he's not out-and-out fast. But I do believe that if put in the right hands, he is one of two or three young seam bowlers - I wouldn't say fast bowlers because they're not yet, at 21 years of age, fast - [who] have potential. He's rangy, he's tall and he's intelligent. So I have high hopes for his development."

West Indies' attempt to win their first Test in India for nearly 30 years began with their new captain Roston Chase calling correctly at the toss and choosing to bat on an unusually green pitch in Ahmedabad.

Shubman Gill admitted he wasn't "too sad" about the coin going against him, noting that the surface had been under the covers for the past few days and might assist the quicks early on.

Despite the nature of the pitch on the first morning, both captains were aware of the threat of spin later in the game. Chase's decision to put runs on the board was built around not wanting to chase when wear and tear makes the conditions shift.

India have picked three spinners - although their job is made easier by the fact two of them - Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar - are also allrounders. Kuldeep Yadav comes off the bench where he spent the entire England tour earlier this year. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj are the two specialist fast bowlers, with Nitish Kumar Reddy, returning from knee injury, offering support. India's middle-order batting is weakened by the absence of Rishabh Pant who is still recovering from a fractured left foot. Dhruv Jurel takes the gloves and there was no space for the spare man Devdutt Padikkal.

West Indies too wear a changed look with Tagenarine Chanderpaul back as opener. John Campbell, who played at No. 4, is back at the top of the order and Brandon King has shifted down. They are without much of their fast-bowling firepower with Alzarri Joseph and Shamar Joseph out injured. Jason Holder was unable to step in, he has to undergo a medical procedure himself, so there was a Test debut for Johann Layne, the allrounder from Barbados with 66 first-class wickets at an average of 22. Khary Pierre lives his dream of wearing the maroon cap as well, the 34-year-old Trinidad native finally rewarded for topping the charts in the West Indies Championship this season.

India: KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (capt), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

West Indies: Tagenarine Chanderpaul, John Campbell, Alick Athanaze, Brandon King, Shai Hope (wk), Roston Chase (capt), Justin Greaves, Jomel Warrican, Khary Pierre, Johann Layne, Jayden Seales