It was Ishant (2/24 in 6 overs) and Mohammed Shami (1/13 in 6 overs), who had the Caribbeans reeling at 7 for 3 before Blackwood played a brilliant counter-attacking innings studded with seven boundaries and four sixes.
He added 81 runs with an unusually subdued Marlon Samuels (14 batting, 71 balls) before being trapped leg-before at the stroke of lunch by Ravichandran Ashwin.
West Indies made one change to their line-up, bringing in debutant Miguel Cummins in place of Carlos Brathwaite, while India were forced to make a change as well. KL Rahul came into the side in place of the injured Murali Vijay.
Ishant and Shami started proceedings for India, and the two bowlers were right on the money from the word go.
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Ishant in particular was impressive with his line and length, a marked improvement from the Antigua Test, as he pitched the ball further up and got it to move about.
Off the very next ball, Darren Bravo (0) was forced to fend an incoming delivery and skipper Virat Kohli completed a brilliant diving catch at second slip.
Three overs later, Shami got Rajendra Chandrika (5) to drive, only to find KL Rahul at gully as West Indies were struggling within the first 30 minutes of play.
(REOPENS FGN 27)
Spin was introduced in the 12th over as R Ashwin (1-13) came on, but Blackwood went after him as well, smacking 10 runs off his second over.
It seemed as there was a continuous barrage of sixes, five of them coming in this first session of play, four from Blackwood alone as West Indies raced past the 50-mark in the 16th over despite their poor start.
Their 50-partnership had come off just 75 balls, and in doing so, Blackwood reached his 7th Test fifty off only 47 balls.
India didn't seem to have any answers to this assault, and both spinners had been introduced within 17 overs, with Mishra (0-18) coming on to bowl as well. There were some interesting shouts against Blackwood, who lived dangerously.