India vs West Indies: A mismatch as hosts will look to boost WTC points

It’s only been three days since India played that demanding final against Pakistan in the Asia Cup, and it’s time for them to slip into the Test mode against the West Indies from Thursday. Not ideal — but par for the course in the modern international calendar’s scheme of things.

A Test series against the men in maroon caps certainly does not excite fans any longer, and it will be no different than the one at hand for Shubman Gill’s men starting on Dusshera. The mood will still be festive in Ahmedabad, but one hopes the turnout in the stands at the gigantic Narendra Modi Stadium does not turn out to be yet another embarrassing advertisement for the longer format of the game.

However, as a part of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 cycle where India lies third in the table after Australia and Sri Lanka, the series offers the hosts a twin opportunity — consolidate their position with a 2-0 sweep and tune up for the face-off against WTC champions South Africa next. It’s a sport where nothing should be taken for granted, but it’s difficult to see the outcome of the series going any other way unless the weather thwarts a result in either Ahmedabad or Delhi.

The Caribbeans, meanwhile, are ranked sixth but that’s only because the three teams below them (New Zealand, Pakistan and the Proteas) have not played any Tests in the new cycle. The recent memory of their Test campaign had been a 3-0 drubbing to Australia, which included an alarming 27 all out in the final Test — which forced Cricket West Indies to convene a huddle of past greats to chalk out a roadmap for resurgence.

While a resurgence can wait for now, Royston Chase and his men’s immediate target will be to show character against a new-look but vastly superior Indian team to prevent a shellacking they received during the last tour of India in 2018. India had won the first Test on that occasion by an innings and 272 runs and the second by 10 wickets while the last time the West Indies turned the tables on India — either at home or away — was in 2002.

However, memories of a 3-0 rout to New Zealand during their last Test series at home will not go away in a hurry — a result which snapped India’s invincible run at home from 2013 to 2024. The woeful form of the ‘Big Two’ against the underrated Kiwis spinners, in a way, hastened the plan of a transition in Indian cricket while the series also saw veteran Ravi Ashwin making way for Washington Sundar.

It will be too much to expect the quality and discipline of the underrated Kiwis in the Caribbeans, but the Indian camp are taking no chances. The fact that Jasprit Bumrah is in the mix along with Mohammed Siraj, hailed as one of the heroes behind India’s 2-2 draw in England, shows Gautam Gambhir is in no mood to experiment ahead of the more demanding test against the Proteas.

"We are looking to play some hard grinding cricket," Gill told the media. He pointed out that in recent years Tests in India rarely took the full five days, in contrast to England, where the Tests "went pretty deep".

However, Gill said India was not "looking for any easy way out options" and insisted the team had "the skill set to be able to play on any kind of wicket, or any situation".

Having said that, spin could still be their calling card with Ravindra Jadeja — given the vice-captain’s role at 36 years in Rishabh Pant’s absence — leading the pack. It’s again an embarrassment of riches in this department with Sundar, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav fighting for the other two possible spots in the playing XI.      

This will be Gill’s first series as captain at home but after a record-breaking run in England, he will be in a much better frame of mind. There are, of course, a few question marks in the line-up about nos. 3 and 5 — but Sai Sudarshan and Devdutt Padikkal look like the candidates to fill up these two spots.

Did Karun Nair deserve another chance, in more benign conditions, since he was brought back into international cricket after eight years ? The selection committee says the younger Padikkal ‘offers more’ at this stage. We will know soon.

Catch the match

First Test

India vs West Indies, Ahmedabad

Daily start: 9.30 am IST