IND vs WI Preview | West Indies hope to end 23-year wat for Test win over India in friendlier Delhi
India will aim to seal a routine series win when they take on the West Indies in the second and final Test at Arun Jaitley Stadium beginning October 10. The hosts ran away winners by an innings in the opening encounter and would hope to flex their batting muscles on a friendlier track in Delhi.
India took 24 attempts to defeat West Indies in an official Test match, that too courtesy of a generational run of form for Sunil Gavaskar so sensational that it remains a part of popular cricketing culture more than 50 years on. However, the hope of the 1970s was fleeting, as normal business resumed over the next two decades where India managed just two Test wins in 27 more encounters. A visit to the Caribbean islands in 2002 resulted in yet more disappointment, with the hosts clinching the series 2-1.
That was the last time West Indies won a Test match against India, home or away. Never before have the head-to-head tables flipped so drastically in Test cricket, where it is the Maroon brigade that is now 25 matches without a win against the Men in Blue. The sadder part is, there are practically no chances of that number resetting when they set foot in Delhi. Forensic post-mortems by legends of the game, injecting white-ball talent into the sombre whites of Tests, blooding exciting new fast bowlers, changing coach, captain, and selector -- the Windies have tried everything since with little result. They are eighth in the Test rankings, and at the present rate risk missing out on the next World Test Championship.
Such a one-sided affair hardly augurs room for a grasping narrative, but there ara couple of things for India to still be wary of. For starters, this is still their first Test series at home under Shubman Gill's captaincy and since a 3-0 drubbing at home against New Zealand last year that ended over a decade of invincibility. Then there's always Jasprit Bumrah and workload questions to attend, regardless of format or occasion. Oh, and this is also the first series India are playing at home since Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravichandran Ashwin's retirement. Yet, their sheer domination from first ball to the last in Ahmedabad is testament to the fact of how well this team is prepared for the transition, but more an indication of just how poor the West Indies Test team is in 2025.
Form Guide
India arrived in the series on the back of a drawn five-match series in England, where a young squad laid down a marker with the batting unit particularly impressing. The Windies, meanwhile, endured a 3-0 drubbing at home in their last endeavour, which included a lowest-ever Test total of 27 in the final pink-ball encounter. In the last World Test Championship cycle, India ended third and narrowly missed out on the final while West Indies finished eighth, only ahead of Pakistan. In fact, the Caribbean outfit last won a Test series against a top-eight nation three years ago in 2022 against a down and out England.
IND: W W D L W
WI: L L L L W
IND vs WI Head-to-Head in Tests
The numbers may suggest West Indian domination, but it says more about their historical superiority rather than reflect present times. The Windies last won a Test against India in 2002, while their record this century reads two wins and 17 losses. Their last series was a two-match affair in the Caribbean where India won the first Test by an innings and 141 runs before rain forced draw in the second encounter where India had taken a 217-run first innings lead. It was the ninth straight series win for India over the Windies.
IND 24-30 WI
Pitch and Weather
After an unusually green red-soil deck in Ahmedabad, the Indian cricket team will return to playing on a black-soil surface in Delhi. The pitch is expected to be good for batting but become a handful for batters as it wears and tears, allowing the spinners to come firmly into focus. India last played a Test here in 2023, where they overturned a one-run first innings deficit after Australia scored 263 by bowling them out for 113 in the second innings enroute to a six-wicket victory.
The weather is forecast to remain clear on Day 1 of the Test, with Accuweather suggesting sunny skies and temperatures hovering in the mid 20s degrees celsius throughout the duration of play.
Team News
After playing Niitish Kumar Reddy on a green Ahmedabad surface in the first Test, India might be tempted to swap him with spin-bowling all-rounder Axar Patel instead at the more spin-friendly Arun Jaitley Stadium. Other options for India include playing a specialist batter instead in the form of Devdutt Padikkal, or adding a third pacer which seems nigh impossible. As for Jasprit Bumrah, the Indian quick is likely to retain his spot given a workload of just 20 overs in the first Test which also finished early, allowing two extra days of rest.
West Indies, meanwhile, are expected to back the same batting line-up for another game despite a calmitous outing in the first Test, with Kevlon Anderson and Tevin Imlach the two standbus on tour should the Caribbean nation decide to chop and change. The other possible change is bringing in Jediah Blades or Anderson Phillip in liey for debutant Johann Layne, with Phillip the front runner given his capped status.
India Probable XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah
West Indies Probable XI: John Campbell, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Alick Athanaze, Brandon King, Roston Chase (c), Shai Hope (wk), Justin Greaves, Khary Pierre, Jomel Warrican, Anderson Phillip, Jayden Seales
Broadcasting Platforms
The second Test between India and West Indies will be broadcast on the Jio Hotstar app and website with telecast available on the Star Sports Network.
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