IND vs WI first Test preview | India seek course correction as home leg of new WTC cycle begins
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India will meet the West Indies in the first Test of the two-match series in Ahmedabad starting on Thursday. The home side will hope for a turnaround as they start the home leg of the new World Test Championship cycle after a whitewash at the hands of New Zealand in their last home duel in 2024.
The memories of the 3-0 whitewash suffered against New Zealand last year will be fresh as India take field against the West Indies at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The two-Test series marks the beginning of India’s home leg in the World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle.
But it will be a totally different Indian team that will be playing a home Test without Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravichandran Ashwin in their ranks for the first time since December 2009. Shubman Gill will helm this young Indian side with Ravindra Jadeja acting as his deputy, after Rishabh Pant failed to recover from a foot injury.
The home side will walk into the series after earning a hard-fought 2-2 draw in their previous assignment in England. Gill was in terrific form, finishing as the highest run-getter in the five-match duel with 754 runs, including four centuries, at an average of 75.40. KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja also had a great series with the bat, scoring more than 500 runs.
With the ball, pacer Mohammed Siraj showed tremendous work ethic and fitness playing all five games and picking up 23 wickets, while Jasprit Bumrah ended with 14 scalps from three matches. Middle-order batter Karun Nair was dropped after an underwhelming series, with Devdutt Padikkal coming into the 15-member side.
Meanwhile, the West Indies travel to India on the back of a poor home series, losing all three Tests against Australia in July. To add to their woes, the pace duo of Alzarri Joseph and Shamar Joseph have been ruled out with injuries. The Roston Chase-led side looks inexperienced on paper and will have to play out of their skin to get a favourable result from the series.
West Indies hold a superior head-to-head record against India in Tests, with 30 wins from 100 matches. The home side have won 23 games, while 47 have ended in draws. However, recent history shows a stark contrast with India winning seven of the last 10 matches and the West Indies’ last win coming in 2002.
The surface at the Narendra Modi Stadium is expected to be flat and will assist the batters early on in the game. As the game progresses, the spinners may come into play as the dry surface starts deteriorating, and the cracks open up. India have not lost a Test match at this venue in their last six games, after South Africa beat them in April 2008.
A warm and cloudy morning will welcome both sides in Ahmedabad, with temperatures expected to be around 33 degrees. There are chances of afternoon showers on day one, followed by spells of rainfall on days four and five.
Both sides are expected to play three spinners, with Axar Patel joining Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja in India’s playing eleven. Devdutt Padikkal may also get a look in if India decides to play a specialist batter ahead of all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy.
Meanwhile, Jayden Seales, Anderson Phillip, and Justin Greaves are expected to man the visitors’ pace attack with Roston Chase, Khary Pierre, and Jomel Warrican handling the spin department.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah
Tagenarine Chanderpaul, John Campbell, Alick Athanaze, Brandon King, Roston Chase (c), Shai Hope (wk), Justin Greaves, Khary Pierre, Anderson Phillip, Jayden Seales, Jomel Warrican
The IND vs WI first Test match will be digitally streamed on the JioHotstar app and website in India from 9:30 AM IST on Thursday, with live telecast of the same on Star Sports Network.
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