West Indies pushovers? Not really, feels India

North Sound Antigua A perfect combination and a winning start will be foremost on skipper Virat Kohlis mind when India take on West Indies in their inaugural World Test Championship opener here today A win in the opening Test will be the 27th for Kohli as skipper and will put him on even keel with his predecessor Mahendra Singh Dhoni A century in the game 19th as captain will place him on par with Ricky PontingOn paper a batting lineup that has Kohli Cheteshwar Pujara KL Rahul Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant in the ranks should be termed clear favourites but this West Indies team led by Jason Holder is no pushover England found that out the hard way at the start of the year when they lost a Test series 12 in some of the most lively pitches on the Caribbean islands in recent timesOne such pacerfriendly wicket was at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua where Kohli and his men will be facing the Windies first up People have been talking about Test cricket not being relevant or dying down For me the competition has gone up twofold the last couple of years Its up to the players to take the challenge and go for victories Kohli said about the inaugural edition of the World Test ChampionshipWhen England lostThe last Test played here saw England scoring 187 and 132 but that was a different time of the year Nevertheless Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri who recently got a fresh contract will be wary of the challenge that can be posed by the new ball pair of Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel along with Jason Holder bowling his steady seamup spellsIf there is pace and bounce Kohli is likely to go with four specialist bowlers in which Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav will be fighting for the lone spinners slot The three pacers in all likelihood will be Jasprit Bumrah Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami However it is the batting combination that will be the skippers primary worry and if he can get it right that will be considered as a tactical victoryCombination the keyIn an ideal situation if Hardik Pandya was available Kohli would have been tempted to drop one among Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane but given the recent record of West Indies in Tests he might go in with an extra batsman which means both will feature in the playing XI If a greentop is provided and Kohli still goes with five bowlers which includes Ravindra Jadeja as an allrounder it could well be a tossup between the two Mumbaikars The other issue will be at the top of the order as to who will open with Mayank AgarwalThe common logic says KL Rahul who is a specialist opener but Hanuma Vihari was sent to do the firefighting in Australia and it would be unfair to not give him another opportunity against a relatively easier pace attack The West Indies team in the Test format has been an understated one with players who have more talent than what the numbers currently show In Shai Hope John Campbell and Shimron Hetmyer they have the three talented youngsters Roston Chase during the 2016 series against India had thwarted Ashwin for a whole fifth day in Kingston after West Indies were staring at an innings defeat In addition to that he is a steady offspinner with 50 Test wicketsAll you want to know about the ICC Test CshipThe tournament will be played from July 15 2019 to April 30 2021The nine topranked sides in the world will compete in the tournament with each side playing six series on a homeandaway basis against mutually selected opponents in the twoyear cycleThe final league game will be played in April 2021 with the Windies set to travel to Sri Lanka for a twoTest seriesThe aim is to bring more context to bilateral TestsThe Top 2 sides will contest in the ICC World Test Championship final inJune 2021Each series can have between two to five Tests but the points on offer from each Test series will be the same ie 120For a tie or no result teams will get between 30 and 12 points depending on the length of the seriesFor a draw teams will get between 20 to eight points depending on the length of the series The winning team will earn between 60 to 24 pointsWhile Zimbabwe Ireland and Afghanistan will not participate the last two will play Tests as part of the ICCs Future Tours ProgrammeCatch up on all the latest T20 news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates