Jadeja, Kuldeep strike after Gill ton propels India to 518

West Indies gave a better account of themselves with the bat than in Ahmedabad, but India still remained in control of the Delhi Test after Shubman Gill scored his 10th Test hundred and declared midway through the day at 518 for 5. In response, West Indies put on their first half-century stand of the series - a contrast to at least 57 for every wicket for India in this Test, Alick Athanaze posted their highest individual score of 41 and they went 43 overs with the loss of four wickets. It was an improvement after they failed to bat 50 overs in either of their innings in Ahmedabad, but they still needed 179 to avoid the follow-on.

The day began on a sour note for India when the voracious Yashasvi Jaiswal was run-out after he had added just two to his overnight 173. He was quite demonstrative in letting his partner, Gill, know it was his call and that he should be looking at him and not the ball. However, Jaiswal had hit the ball to mid-off a little too well, and Gill had been quick to turn his back. Jaiswal, though, kept going, and left himself no opportunity to recover.

The ever-calm Gill took it in his stride, and - at least for the spectators - more than made up for the run-out with sumptuous strokeplay to bring up his fifth century in just seven Tests as captain. For company he had 40s from Nitish Kumar Reddy, promoted so he can play some role in home Tests, and Dhruv Jurel, whose dismissal brought about the declaration.

For most part, Gill hardly played a shot in anger. When the seamers produced a mildly testing spell in the morning, Gill prospered with short-arm cuts and defensive pushes for boundaries into the leg side, often after stepping out of the crease. He brought up his half-century with slight abandon, a lovely flick through midwicket. When Justin Greaves tried to mix cutters, he picked one even as he stepped out and then lofted him for a six.

Reddy, who bowled just four overs in the first match and didn't get to bat, was sent in at No. 5 so that India can give him time in the middle and give him every opportunity to develop into an allrounder when he is next needed overseas. It wasn't the smoothest of innings, with an early edge falling short, but featured two sixes against the turn before a third attempt ended it on 43 off 54.

Jurel was a more reliable ally, once again showing good judgement of length against spin. He preferred to press forward in preparation to face the ball, but was quick to rock back every time the spinners dropped short.

Gill strolled through to his hundred before flicking into a higher gear, scoring 27 off 19 after reaching the landmark. In trying to match Gill's pace, Jurel tried to manufacture a pull and was bowled off Roston Chase, the first man other than Jomel Warrican to take a wicket.

Gill pulled the plug on the innings with that dismissal. Unbeaten, he now averaged 43.47 in Tests and 84.81 as captain. No India captain has scored more hundreds in a year than Gill's five after he took over practically in the second half of 2025.

Averaging 20 over the last 40 innings, the West Indies opening wicket failed to change that number either way, although this time they were unlucky. John Campbell and Tagenarine Chanderpaul had looked comfortable against pace. Campbell welcomed Ravindra Jadeja's spin with a paddle-swept boundary, but the next sweep, nailed off the middle of the bat, hit the short leg's helmet and lodged itself in the fielder's arms. B Sai Sudharsan, the fielder, stayed off the field for the rest of the day, but had brought about a breakthrough.

Chanderpaul and Athanaze then put together West Indies' most assured phase with the bat, using their feet, sweeping, lofting down the ground, and then Chanderpaul was beaten in the air by a quick Jadeja delivery, which he steered for a sharp catch at first slip.

Athanaze then hit Kuldeep Yadav's first ball of a new spell straight to midwicket, having got too close to the pitch of the ball on this slog-sweep. Captain Roston Chase tamely flicked one back to Jadeja. In the stands, Viv Richards and Brian Lara were seen gesturing he should have defended it with the turn and not flicked against it.

Shai Hope and Tevin Imlach saw West Indies through to stumps without further damage but they still had a mountain to climb.