West Indies dominated the opening day of their third Test against India in Mumbai, easing to 267 for two at the close of play as all four batsmen who made it out to the middle recorded half-centuries.

It was only the fourth time in history that West Indies had achieved the feat, and although their openers failed to fully cash in on a flat Wankhede wicket, Kirk Edwards and Darren Bravo saw them safely to the close.

As good as conditions were for batting, the pitch was on the slow side which meant that scoring wasn't always easy, although all the batsmen were ruthless with poor deliveries as they were dispatched to the boundary.

Ravichandran Ashwin was the bowler to pick up the two wickets that fell as he had both openers caught bat and pad just before tea.

However Adrian Barath (62) and Kraigg Brathwaite (68) had already put on 137 for the first wicket - the West Indies' biggest opening stand in five years.

While the Wankhede pitch was expected to provide some assistance to the seamers in the first hour thanks to some moisture in the surface, Ishant Sharma and Varun Aaron barely managed any sideways movement either through the air or off the pitch.

If anything, the moisture meant it was on the slow side, which perhaps took the sting out of Aaron's pace as he looked for his first Test wicket.

Ishant bowled a tricky spell after the lunch interval which was wisely seen off by the openers, before Ashwin worked up a head of steam which ultimately forced the breakthrough.

The offspinner began to extract some turn and bounce from the surface in the middle of the second session, and both Barath and Brathwaite departed after coming forward to deliveries which flicked the glove before bouncing up off the pad.

Edwards and Bravo saw the tourists through to the tea break on 161 for two, and slowly opened up after the interval, scoring 53 runs in the 12 overs that followed, but they also enjoyed some fortune.

Edwards was dropped by Dhoni off Virender Sehwag in the 71st over when the Indian captain failed to gather a faint edge down the leg side, while Bravo was put down on 33 by Rahul Dravid at slip.

The duo were not put off though, with Edwards taking just 69 balls to bring up and impressive half-century, and Bravo reaching the landmark from 88 deliveries shortly before the close of play.

Debutant Aaron was included at the expense of Umesh Yadav as India's selectors decided to have a look at the new paceman ahead of the forthcoming tour of Australia.

The hosts made one other change, with Virat Kohli confirmed as the number six batsman after Yuvraj Singh was dropped for poor form after the second Test.

West Indies limped into the match without the services of Kemar Roach and Shane Shillingford - both of whom were suffering from stomach ailments.

Those exclusions were largely expected, but a further blow was confirmed when Shivnarine Chanderpaul was left out because of a calf strain, meaning Kieran Powell came into the middle order.

India already hold an unassailable two-nil lead in the three-match series.

India: Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni (capt, wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Varun Aaron

West Indies: Adrian Barath, Kraigg Brathwaite, Kirk Edwards, Darren Bravo, Kieran Powell, Marlon Samuels, Carlton Baugh (wk), Darren Sammy (capt), Fidel Edwards, Devendra Bishoo, Ravi Rampaul