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RESULT
1st Test, Ahmedabad, October 02 - 04, 2025, West Indies tour of India
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162 & 146
448/5d

India won by an innings and 140 runs

Player Of The Match
104* & 4/54
ravindra-jadeja
Live
Updated 04-Oct-2025 • Published 02-Oct-2025

Live report - India beat West Indies by an innings and 140 runs

By Alagappan Muthu

India win

West Indies lost 10 wickets in two sessions on the first day. They did it again on the third day. Only two players got into the 30s. Only two faced 50 or more balls. They have five days to address these problems before the start of the second game in Delhi. The wait to win a Test match against India in India, which is into its 31st year, continues.
Jadeja doesn't get the double, he finishes with 104 not out and 4 for 54. Dhruv Jurel made a memorable first Test century, which has now turned match-winning. KL Rahul showed class with a hundred as well. Shubman Gill wins his first home Test as India captain and his team goes 1-0 up in the two-match series.
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End is near

Siraj comes back and takes down the last recognised batter Justin Greaves. Now it's the two debutants and the bowlers for WI. They're 98 for 7. Might be some reverse happening. The shiny side was on the inside of the ball as it hit the pads
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Warrican falls as well, his bat flying towards square leg, the ball finding mid-off
1 time that Siraj has taken five or more wickets in a Test in India. He had four in the first innings, picks up two in an over now
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Athanaze gone

Oh he closed the face of the bat. He played against the turn. Athanaze had displayed great concentration for 73 balls. The 74th, bowled by Washington Sundar, baited him into playing a shot on the on side, against the turn and he couldn't help himself. Simple caught and bowled.
This is the end where Seales' followthrough left footmarks right in front of the stumps for both left and right-hand batters.
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Athanaze hit on the head

He's been the WI batter to last the longest in either innings, but runs foul of a Jasprit Bumrah bouncer from around the wicket. Alick Athanaze who has lived up to his billing as one of the young generation to watch out for tried to duck under it, but the ball kept following him, he indicated as much immediately after the blow. The physio went out there to conduct concussion protocols and seems to have cleared him.
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New threats

A different challenge for WI post lunch. India have brought pace back with Jasprit Bumrah and have gone to Washington Sundar at the other end, which almost seems like a move to get some overs in his legs. Can't imagine Jadeja or Kuldeep wanting a break after the chaos they pulled off in the first session.

Lunch: WI 66 for 5

They took only three wickets all day yesterday. They've lost five in a session today. India is a hard place to tour, especially for a side still building its best batters and shorn of two of its best bowlers. West Indies go to lunch trailing by 220 runs. Jadeja has three wickets.
2 times that Jadeja has scored a hundred and a taken five-for in the same Test. He's on course for a third here. Only Botham (5) and Ashwin (4) have managed this allrounder's double more frequently
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Athanaze's process

Alick Athanaze was brought back into the WI Test team with his coach Daren Sammy highlighting his ability against spin and that's definitely been on show.
He's picked up length well. He's been decisive going forward or back. His plan is to not force the pace in front of the wicket. But the moment he has options to score behind he takes it. If he is off on any of those counts, he'll be vulnerable. He wasn't.
Athanaze also knows just defending won't cut it. He knows he needs to put pressure back. Two rock solid reverse sweeps - he went only once he saw the ball overpitched well outside off, increasing his chances of making contact and limiting the threat of bowled and lbw - and one sumptuous cover drive to a half-volley outside off, though it only went for three, highlighted his process.
Meanwhile, the other end provides an example of how you could do everything right and still get out. Yashasvi Jaiswal takes a screamer to remove Shai Hope, who went back to cut a short ball but mistimes it because it bounced a whole lot more than he expected.
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Kuldeep strikes

The back foot offers no refuge either. King fell committed to pushing forward. His captain is undone staying back. Playing India's spinners at home is seriously difficult.
Kuldeep Yadav takes down Roston Chase when the batter hasn't really done too much wrong. He saw the orthodox legbreak. He played for the turn. For some strange reason, there isn't any. And he ends up with his off stump knocked back. Natural variation, which is scary because it's come at the end where there are footmarks right in front of the stumps thanks to Jayden Seales' unusual followthrough. WI 34 for 4.
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King gone

So good from Jadeja.
In his previous over, the 15th of the innings, he watched Brandon King lunging forward, desperate to get to the pitch of the ball. He succeeded then, to the effect that he was able to crunch a beautiful cover drive for four.
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Jadeja's picked up on that and in his next over, the 17th, he calibrates the flight on the ball. It is still full so it triggers King's instinct to come forward. But he has no way of getting to the pitch of this one. So now having committed to the shot, he ends up vulnerable to Jadeja's turn. Straightforward catch to slip.
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India building pressure

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The last 24 balls to drinks in the morning on day three. One wicket, two runs.
Jadeja's bowled four overs for three maidens and that wicket in this sequence.
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Jadeja strikes

A little bit of extra bounce.
That's all it takes to shift the ball from the middle of the bat - where John Campbell hopes to make contact and keep the ball down - to the shoulder which cushions the impact of the flick shot and lets the ball settle safely in Sai Sudharsan's hands at short leg.
All a function of the revs and the shoulder that Jadeja puts in. He doesn't even need the footmarks. WI 24 for 2 in 10.1 overs.
Campbell has played 101 first-class matches. It's that experience that's got him into West Indies' XI 23 times. Only Roston Chase and Shai Hope have played more Tests than him. But Campbell's only scored nine first-class centuries. In Tests he has no centuries and his last fifty came in 2022, against Bangladesh. This game, he ends with scores of 8 and 14.
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Siraj strikes

The wicket is as much the catcher's as the bowler's, Nitish Reddy at square leg diving to his left. He was horizontal, with both feet off the ground when the ball hit his hands, he had both of them behind it. Great technique. The left-handed Tage Chanderpaul gone for 8.
Siraj, who is sometimes called a disciple of Bumrah, seems to like bowling at left-handers from either side of the wicket. It might be because his natural delivery is the inswinger to them, so he can keep the stumps, the pads and the edges in play even when he angles the ball across them. The Chanderpaul wicket is from a short ball from around the stumps.
He is still a work in progress against left-handers, averaging 45 in the last two years. Against right-handers, his average in this period is just 24.
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Bumrah angle

Jasprit Bumrah is a fan of the basics. He has the flashy action and the rip-roaring yorker but his success is built on landing the ball, over and over, in an area where the batter can't score runs. He also makes sure the batter has to play more often than not. That's why he almost always bowls around the wicket to left-handers.
17.55 Bumrah's average against left-handers in Tests over the last two years. It is built on bowling around the wicket to them, when his average goes down even further, to 16.45. It goes up to 44.33 when Bumrah bowls over the wicket to left-handers
Over the last two years, Bumrah has bowled only 300 of his 1317 balls to left-hander from over the wicket.
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Chanderpaul regen

"I'm not much of a flashy player. So I just try to take my time and accumulate my runs with the odd boundary here and there. I think [batting time] goes with my [natural] game. But I also spend time batting balls at the nets and hope to replicate it [in a match]."
Tagenarine Chanderpaul is a chip off the old block. It hits you when he takes strike. It hits you from the way he bats. It hits you even when he even cleans sweat off his face. Shiv used to do the same thing, pulling the helmet off, but still holding it in both hands, raising them up above his head and wiping the sides of his face against his biceps.
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Day three: India declare

India have declared overnight with a lead of 286.
Which means an enormous task awaits West Indies.
The depletion of their bowling attack, with two of their three first-choice fast bowlers - Shamar Joseph and Alzarri Joseph - unavailable due to injury has left them severely handicapped. Three wickets over the course of the entire's day's play on day two after they were bowled out in two sessions on day one was not the plan when they came here. Now the batters have to pull them up.
India are in control. The pitch is turning. WI batted first because they didn't want to bat last but signs are that they will still end up in that situation.
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Stumps: India lead by 286

India 448 for 5 (Jurel 125, Rahul 100, Jadeja 104*, Chase 2-90) lead West Indies 162 (Greaves 32, Siraj 4-40, Bumrah 3-42, Kuldeep 2-25) by 286 runs
India's batting riches put them in consummate control of the first Test of their home season, with KL Rahul and Dhruv Jurel scoring important centuries. It was Rahul's first at home since 2016 and it was Jurel's first one ever. They now have a lead of 286, which is large enough to potentially shrink this down from a five-day game.
Ravindra Jadeja had an equal part to play in a day where India made 327 runs for just three wickets. There was a point when the pitch started crumbling and West Indies' spinners were able to get the ball to turn sharply out of the rough. India collectively decided to attack them, hoping to throw them off the lengths where they could access the worn out parts of the pitch. Jadeja did this the best. His idea was to charge at the bowler, and every time he did, he was looking to hit a boundary. Seven of the 11 he ended up with were the result of this ruthless approach, including a six that helped him breeze through the nervous nineties.
Jomel Warrican, Roston Chase and Khary Pierre, in helpful conditions, were left nursing combined figures of 4 for 283 from 82 overs. Jadeja, meanwhile, helped India reprise a feature of their England tour earlier this year, becoming the third centurion of the innings. The last time that happened at home was 2018, during West Indies' previous visit to the country. Jadeja connected that trio to this trio.
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Jadeja century

Another hundred for Ravindra Jadeja. His sixth overall. His second in three Tests. And there's every chance he might come back in with the ball and take a five-for. His old pal R Ashwin has that double. He has it too. Hundred and five-for in the same game. But it'd be pretty poetic if the first Test following Ashwin's retirement sees Jadeja follow suit.
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Jurel gone

Khary Pierre has his first Test wicket. Big smile on his face. He's 34 years old. He might have thought his chances of playing Test cricket for West Indies were long gone. But now here he is. Never giving up.
Dhruv Jurel walks back for 125. It looked like his focus had shifted to attack after bringing up his maiden Test century. The shot he gets out to is a forceful drive on the up which takes the edge through to the keeper. Good take from Hope, staying down and then rising with the ball.
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Jurel maiden century

Magnificent effort from Dhruv Jurel. It is clear from the way he bats that he is set up to be consistent. He has good judgment of what to play and what to leave. He's comfortable in attack and defence. Some of his back foot shots against pace were chef's kiss, so that, along with the way he played out the second new ball, suggests he should be able to adapt to overseas conditions. He has a high floor. Pant beats him with a high ceiling. Maybe India might find a way for both players to be part of the XI. Trust Jurel to be a specialist batter.
India are looking at three centurions in an innings again - a feature of their tour of England earlier this year. At home though, the last time that happened was in 2018, during West Indies' last visit to the country.
Ravindra Jadeja has the chance to connect that trio to this trio.
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India lead tops 200

Since India began a mission to be a force both at home and away, the biggest thing that has held them back are periods of play that they either lose concentration or fail to seize.
In this Test match, one moment came when WI started getting help from the rough. All of their batters - including the ones who lost their wickets (Gill and Rahul) in the process - tried to attack and throw the opposition off. WI's spinners have bowled 65 overs for 201 runs and three wickets (average 67, bowling strike rate 130).
Another was the second new ball, taken in the 98th over. India chose to play this out, backing their defence against the seam movement. Jurel got beat playing a rash drive and ever since he's been conscious of leaving the ball outside off. That's led to 32 runs in 12 overs since the new ball.
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The two tier WTC

The Test Championship has been good, mostly. Until its introduction only white-ball cricket offered the chance of a World Cup. Even now with the rise in popularity of T20 cricket, with how easily it can be packaged and marketed on Instagram and Tiktok, there is a satisfaction on offer for players who do well in this area. You get a lot of money, like settled-for-life kind of money, and you get fame.
The WTC is how the decision makers are trying to keep Test cricket on level terms. In its current format, every team doesn't play every other team. That'd make the cycle too long and limit the oppotunity for bumper five-match series. The solution, as a result is, they all play an uneven number of matches and are placed on the table by percentage of points won from the total points they have available. Not everyone has been a fan. The last cycle, the champions South Africa faced questions about facing low-quality oppositions to make the final. Also, the final is always played in England. India haven't been big on that.
The latest challenge to the WTC is switching it into two-tiers. The upside is a chance of fewer blowouts. The downside is when teams on the lower end of the table don't get to play teams on the upper end of the table, it stunts their growth. Also no more spectacular results like this one
West Indies are at this lower end of the table and are unsure of what the future holds. What about you?
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Tea: India lead by 164

India moving into a stronhold now. 108 runs for one wicket in that session. The one wicket came in the first over after lunch, KL Rahul out after scoring exactly 100. The pitch is crumbling. Balls were hitting the rough and sliding down low or kicking up high. Seeing that, and knowing his team is safely in the lead, Ravindra Jadeja decided to attack WI's spinners to stop them from building momentum and the plan has worked. India haven't let WI have even a sniff.
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Jadeja fifty

Ravindra Jadeja is among India's top 20 run-scorers in Test cricket. He is also in the top five wicket-takers. That's Kapil Dev territory because he is the only other allrounder in those two brackets.
Once upon a time, they said Jadeja was first a fielder, then a bowler and if need be a batter. To improve from there and become one of the team's most consistent source of runs - this is his seventh fifty-plus score in six Tests - is kinda special.
This innings has been all about Jadeja's takedown of spin and this table shows how he went about it. So efficient coming down the track.
That is an exhaustive table of all the batters stepping out of their crease against spin in this Test so far. It shows how India have been keen to do so but WI weren't (not that they faced a lot of balls against spin).
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Jurel fifty

Dhruv Jurel is an allrounder. He doesn't have to bowl when he keeps wicket, and bats as well as he does. And he's so confident. Even in his debut series, when India had didn't have Rahul and Jadeja (injury) and Kohli (paternity leave) and were under pressure at various times by England, Jurel stood firm, playing like a seasoned pro. The 90, which is still his highest score, that he made in Ranchi was vital to India winning the series. England had them at 177 for 7 after scoring 353 themselves. Jurel was the one that pushed England back from there.
The threat he faced this time isn't as big. India were in the lead by the time he came out to bat. Still, there was quality in his shot-making, against both pace and spin, and enough solidity in his defence (he was arguably more solid when he attacked than when he defended). Jurel came into the WI series after scoring a 140 against an Australia A side in Lucknow. Under ordinary circumstances, he would be a first-choice pick. India, though, have an extraordinary player in Rishabh Pant.
"Staying with or around the [India] team definitely gives you confidence," Jurel has said. "I consider myself very lucky and privileged that I got the chance to play Tests for India and to be with the team. Even if you are not playing, when seniors are around. you learn so many things from them. In a country of billions, how many people get this opportunity?"
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Warrican's work

Jomel Warrican bowled just two overs before lunch. After the break, he's bowled unchanged for seven overs, even though he's come under some tap from Ravindra Jadeja.
WI preferred Khary Pierre in the morning and while he didn't do badly, his focus seemed on containment. Bowling quick through the air and sometimes targeting the pads of the right-hander from over the wicket.
Warrican has presented India with different challenges, changing his pace, going slow when he loops them wide and going quick when he aims for the stumps. He's been harder to line-up, making the natural variation he is getting out of a crumbling pitch that much more dangerous. It's why Jadeja targeted him, trying to hit him out of the attack. Credit to West Indies for not buckling.
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Reverse?

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 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.
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Hit out/get out

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.
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Rahul gone

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.
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Lunch: India lead by 56

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.
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Rahul hundred

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.
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Spin out of the rough

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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.
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Gill gone

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.
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Gill fifty

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.
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Signs of a fast-moving game

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.
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India in the lead

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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.
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WI vs Gill

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.
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Rahul gets a life

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.
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WI reforms

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.
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Day 2: Welcome back

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.
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Stumps: India trail by 41

India 121 for 2 (Rahul 53*, Gill 18*) trail West Indies 160 (Greaves 32, Siraj 4-40, Bumrah 3-43) by 41 runs
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.
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Rahul fifty

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.
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Sudharsan's troubles

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...
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Seales strikes

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
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Change of tempo

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

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
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Rahul and Jaiswal steady

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.
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Seales in action

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."
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WI 162 all out

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.
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Bumrah's landmark

50 wickets in home Tests for Bumrah. He gets there in 24 innings, joint-quickest 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.
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WI batting

22.4 West Indies' batting average in the ICC World Test Championship, the lowest of the participating teams
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.
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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?
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Siraj's almost moment

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.
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Pierre's debuts

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.
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Unplayable Siraj

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
90 percent of Siraj's deliveries in this Test so far (54 out of 60) have been on a good length or fuller. He's targeted the top of the stumps (51 out of 60 arriving in line with them or just outside off). He's tested the batters on the front foot. Relentlessly
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Lunch: WI 90 for 5

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.
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Kuldeep says hi louder

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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.
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Kuldeep says hi

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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
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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.
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Spin's in

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.
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Athanaze gone

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.
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India on top

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.
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Bumrah on the board

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.
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Siraj strikes

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.
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New slip cordon

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.
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Meet Johann Layne

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."
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Toss: West Indies bat

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
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Welcome

Wake up, babe. New home season just dropped. Two months ago, India showed there was life after Kohli, Rohit and Ashwin when they played their part in a thoroughly absorbing Test series against England. They went over early, had time to acclimatise and were acutely aware that they were the underdogs. These Tests against West Indies start less than a week after their exertions at the Asia Cup, and with them as frontrunners. It's a different kind of pressure.
Roston Chase has his own problems. The new West Indies captain is charged with plotting their course up from a very difficult home series defeat against Australia.
From 27 all out, the only way to go is up.
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ICC World Test Championship

TeamMWLDPTPCT
AUS330036100.00
SA32102466.67
SL21011666.67
IND84315254.17
PAK21101250.00
ENG52212643.33
BAN2011416.67
WI505000.00
NZ------