India vs West Indies, 2nd Test Day 2 Highlights: WI 140/4 in 43 overs at Stumps, trail IND by 378 runs

Well, it is going to be a moving session. It might decide how quickly this game might get over in the end, it's a pun though. But the way the West Indies will bat in this session will indicate the mindset they have. As per the Indian bowlers they have enough runs all they have to do is pitch the ball in the right areas and hope wickets come by.

Kuldeep Yadav has bowled the final over before the Tea. West Indies has batted decently; they have applied themselves. The wicket of Campbell is more or less an unlucky one. He could have got it away for a boundary, even a dot ball, but a brilliant reflex from Sai Sudharsan did the trick. All in all, another session that belonged to India. They have declared the innings halfway through the session and now have picked up the first wicket too. Will the West Indies show any resistance post-break, or will they crumble like they did in the other Tests? We have to wait and see.

Also, it will be interesting to see how India will approach this innings. With the Australia tour coming up next Sunday, and most of these players who will be travelling to that tour would want this game to finish early so that they can get a couple of days off. However, if the West Indies manages to put on a score of around 240-250 playing about 80-85 overs, will India opt to impose follow-on or will they bat again to rest the bowlers will be interesting to see. Ideally, teams opt to bat again, but this Indian bowling has six bowlers at their disposal.

Both Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj have taken the new ball for India. Both have started well, which is more or less expected with the form they are. There might not be a lot of swing and seam to work with for both the bowlers, but they will have that odd ball skidding on because of the grass patches and cracks. There might also be an odd one that keeps low from time to time. So line at least should be hitting the stumps regularly. As per length, they will be looking to operate in that hard length region.

“It looks like a 3rd/4th day pitch. Because of the wear and tear, it’s a very dry surface, but I still think it will be good for batting. The spinners have a chance of using their conditions to their advantage, and that is something that I’d like to see the West Indian spinners do. Try to use the rough areas as their guide to pitch the ball into those areas, to bring those variabilities of bounce. The other end has more grass. Naturally, you would think that captains will operate their pace bowlers because the grass layer is more intense. The surface has a couple of bare spots and bowlers could probably get variability in terms of pace, and maybe bounce too. So, there’s enough in that pitch to keep bowlers interested.”

Substitute fielders have come into the middle and have had a chat with Gill, wondering if we might have a declaration around the corner, or it is a message to keep batting this session, and we can assess the situation at Tea. Runs-wise, India has got enough considering the form of West Indies batting, but they still want to play on the safer side. Also the rain forecast for the remaining Test too might come into the picture. There was a game in the last cycle when West Indies could have been defeated by India back in the Caribbean, but they got away because of the rain. India would not want to take any chances on this occasion.

One thing West Indies batting can clearly take inspiration from Indian batting is how they have batted in partnerships. Another partnership in this innings, which has gone past 50, between Jurel and Gill. The effortlessness of run-making has been quite sublime by these two and the partnerships gone by before. In these conditions or any conditions in Test cricket, it does seem very tough in the first 20-25 balls, but the rotation of strike getting to the other end sharing the burden is how partnerships are built, and once they get going, it will get easier and easier to bat like how it has happened to India.

Spin from either end for the West Indies. We might see more and more of slower bowlers bowling more and more overs in this session. It would not be a surprise if these bowlers start bowling negative lines like bowling down the leg-side of sorts. They have used six bowlers, wondering who else can bowl in this lineup because the pacers must have been exhausted under the heat, with the work they have put in. As per India, it is time to cash in. Gill has done the hard work and now can start playing a lot more freely.

Imran Khan was nearly 40 when he hand-held Pakistan to the 1992 World Cup title. By the time the 2027 50-overs World Cup is upon us, Rohit Sharma will also be 40. But, unlike The Khan, he wouldn’t have a fairytale farewell. The national selectors ended his ODI captaincy the other day by naming 25-year-old Shubman Gill as his replacement. It was an unusual and unexpected decision with no precedent.

Only the eclectic with no worldly desires or ambitions would have remained unaffected by the demotion. As for Rohit, he has been a proud captain, a silent chaser of grand dreams and a winner of two ICC tournaments in a matter of months — a rare achievement for a nation that isn’t Australia and that has a long history of World Cup heartbreaks. (Read more from Sandeep Dwivedi)

In the first four balls after lunch, on Day 1 of the second Test between India and West Indies at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground, Yashasvi Jaiswal unfurled three ferocious boundaries from the misplaced seam of fast bowler Jayden Seales. Off the fifth, after receiving Jaiswal’s forward defence, a frustrated Seales threw the ball back at full tilt, targetting the stumps but catching the batsman’s front pad instead. The Mumbai batter shrugged off the bit of needless aggression and got back down to business as he went on his way to mount a mammoth unbeaten 173.

The 15-minute exchange perfectly captured the 90 overs of action here on Friday, with the India top order mercilessly making the most of the batting friendly conditions on offer in the national capital to pummel the hapless West Indies bowling attack into submission. (Read more from Namit Kumar)

West Indies have started the session quite nicely, but as the session went on, their heads started to drop yet again. One cannot blame them much of the damage was done yesterday when they did not hit their straps. They had a brief spell of happiness in the morning, but it did not last long. We might see more bowlers coming into action in the noon session, a bit of run-rate control tactics, more than wicket-tacking attempts.

Nitish Kumar Reddy has fallen here. He tried to smack the ball over long-off yet again, but was caught by the fielder there. The intent was quite clear from Nitish through his innings from He kept counter punching through the innings. Live by the sword and die by the sword was his way. No further experiments, Dhruv Jurel has walked into the middle. He is coming off a good form as Jurel scored his maiden Test match 100. And he has another opportunity here to add more runs under his belt.

The Indian batters are changing gears here. Nitish, especially after being dropped in the over before he continues to pick on the spinner Warrican. The run-rate has been quite healthy today, and since Nitish has walked in, it has spiked a bit further. India has got to 400 here for the loss of three wickets. In the past few years, although India was winning games and series, there have been many instances where the batting lineup has collapsed. Some of it had to do with the rank turners, and some of it had to do with declining form.

Shubman Gill has scored his half-century here. It has been a pretty precise innings from him. Although he will be happy about the landmark, he will be looking to convert this innings into a three-digit mark. As we update, Nitish is dropped at mid-off here. It was a tossed-up delivery from Jomel Warrican, and Nitish looked to hit it over the top and ended up presenting a straight catch to Philip, who dropped a simple one. Have to be a bit careful, Nitish here. He got the opportunity up the order and can score a big one with the time left, but he has had a few heart-in-mouth moments already in the first 20 minutes.

40 minutes into the morning, the West Indies are still operating with pace here. Wonder when they will be bringing in spin into the attack. The oddball is keeping low today more than yesterday, but apart from that, nothing much. Having said that, it has been exceptional bowling this morning from both Philip and Seales, they have bent their back and given their everything, and hence it has been a decent start. As per India, Nitish did manage to get a few edges early on here, but those edges ran away for the boundaries, which has taken him into double digits in quick time.

Well, that is one of those brain-fade moments cricketers have. Jaiswal timed it superbly to the mid-off fielder and took off, and Gill right from the moment of the call said no. It took an eternity for him to get out of the field, Jaiswal. The West Indies have started well here. They have bowled with a bit more intensity, and that runout definitely is a lucky bonus for them. Jaiswal has all the time today to contemplate it. There was no way either of the batters was going to not lose a wicket, even if Gill tried to take that single and honour Jaiswal's call.

The sun is shining bright in the middle. It looks like a warmer day today compared to yesterday. The cracks on the pitch have widened slightly and will continue to do so throughout the day. As always, there will be some moisture in the wicket, which will play a role in this morning's session, and both Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal might play a bit cautiously in the initial overs.

Imran Khan was nearly 40 when he hand-held Pakistan to the 1992 World Cup title. By the time the 2027 50-overs World Cup is upon us, Rohit Sharma will also be 40. But, unlike The Khan, he wouldn’t have a fairytale farewell. The national selectors ended his ODI captaincy the other day by naming 25-year-old Shubman Gill as his replacement. It was an unusual and unexpected decision with no precedent.

Only the eclectic with no worldly desires or ambitions would have remained unaffected by the demotion. As for Rohit, he has been a proud captain, a silent chaser of grand dreams and a winner of two ICC tournaments in a matter of months — a rare achievement for a nation that isn’t Australia and that has a long history of World Cup heartbreaks. (Read more from Sandeep Dwivedi)

But Kotak warned of a few limitations, too, which were on display when contrasted with Jaiswal’s free-wheeling innings. “Some of the very full balls, too, he plays on the back foot though, which we are trying to work with him to cut out. And also the outside off-stump line, which he should easily play on the front foot instead (of being planted on the back foot),” he said. But Kotak warned of a few limitations, too, which were on display when contrasted with Jaiswal’s free-wheeling innings. “Some of the very full balls, too, he plays on the back foot though, which we are trying to work with him to cut out. And also the outside off-stump line, which he should easily play on the front foot instead (of being planted on the back foot),” he said.

On a dead-flat, batting-friendly pitch where the Indian team felt universally confident about scoring runs, India's commanding position was cemented by a crucial and substantial innings from young number three Sai Sudharsan, whose knock vindicated the management's faith in him. Sudharsan's successful partnership with Jaiswal, totaling 193 runs, had a "deflating effect" on the West Indies bowlers and appeared to put the match beyond their reach early on, confirming India's total dominance on a day that saw captain Shubman Gill also show aggressive intent.

The complete Indian dominance was underscored by the fact that the two wickets India lost were not due to sustained pressure or skillful bowling but were anomalies. Even the West Indies' best bowler, left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican, could only manage freak dismissals on the docile pitch: one was a massive-turning ball that confused KL Rahul (spinning 8.4 degrees against an average of 2.6 degrees), and the other a sharply-nipping quicker one that trapped B Sai Sudharsan. The West Indies were forced to simply toil across the ground for the entire day, reinforcing the assessment that their Test cricket is indeed in deep trouble.

The first session after lunch on Day 1 of the second Test between India and West Indies at the Feroz Shah Kotla perfectly encapsulated the day's dominant batting performance by India, epitomized by Yashasvi Jaiswal's approach. In the first four balls of that session, Jaiswal hit three quick boundaries off fast bowler Jayden Seales, taking advantage of a misplaced seam. A frustrated Seales reacted by throwing the ball aggressively at the stumps, hitting Jaiswal's pad, but the batsman remained composed and continued his masterful innings to an unbeaten 173, highlighting how the Indian top order mercilessly exploited the batting-friendly conditions to overwhelm the hapless West Indies bowling attack throughout the 90 overs of play.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Dhruv Jurel(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

Good morning, folks, it is Saturday morning, and it is going to be a day of runs. India is in a position where the score can be anything in this game from this point. Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal have both got their eye in. While the latter has scored a ton, the former will be chasing one. West Indies have another long bowling day on cards unless they have a trick up their sleeve to use on this flat wicket. Do stay with us, it is going to be a fascinating day of cricket.

Sai Sudharan has fallen here. Jomel Warrican's delivery spun back in sharply from over the wicket, and Sai Sudharsan, who was playing that flick shot on the back foot quite nicely through the day has missed that one. It looked out, however, Sudharsan decided to send it upstairs, and there were three reds. It was an opportunity to get his first 100 underway, well, not today, but one thing is his place is assured for a few more games for now. Shubman Gill has walked into the middle. The situation is tailor-made for him to make a big score here.

30 minutes have ticked by, and it has been more or less the same. If anything West Indies have upped their game a bit, but it is still not enough to create an opportunity. Jayden Seales, especially, has bowled quite nicely since the break, and a wicket somehow might be a cherry on the top for his efforts, not just in this game but even in Ahmedabad, where he bowled quite nicely with not too many returns to show for. If anything, it was today's noon session that spoiled his figures a bit. But it is something that happens to you as a fast bowler, especially in the sub-continent conditions. Massive learning curve for him.

Well, Jayden Seales bowled that one well. There might be a hint of reverse-swing on offer for Seales, but how the ball is maintained is hard to judge at the moment. At least for a start, he has used a few cross-seamers first up in that over and has bowled a good length around Jaiswal's off-stump, which did not happen after the morning break. Having said that, Chase is bowling decently but is slipping an odd, poor delivery, and batters who have batted as long as both Jaiswal and Sudharsan have on this wicket are not certainly going to miss out.

West Indies (Playing XI): John Campbell, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Alick Athanaze, Shai Hope, Roston Chase(c), Tevin Imlach(w), Justin Greaves, Jomel Warrican, Khary Pierre, Anderson Phillip, Jayden Seales

India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Dhruv Jurel(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

We are 10 minutes away from Tea break, and this has been a session in which the Indian batters feasted upon. The West Indies bowling attack just looks out of ideas. It is good to have options, but most of the bowling options seem to be operating as individuals rather than as a team working together. While one bowler is building pressure, the other one is letting it go, and when the odd chance gets presented, it is getting dropped like it happened with that Sudharsan catch. It is a sign of a team that is in a pretty wrong space mentally, and the worrying signs for Sammy and his coaching staff are that it is just Day 1.

Yashasvi Jaiswal has gone past 100. He flicked one onto leg-side and got to his landmark. While on most occasions 100 is a good knock but given how the pitch is playing and the quality of bowling, well, 200 is there for the taking for Jaiswal. He has done everything right today. He applied his basics quite magnificently. In the morning session, when the ball was nibbling a bit, he gave the bowlers the deserved respect, and once the ball got a bit older and the change bowlers came, he changed gears and managed to score his seventh Test 100.

Well, Jaiswal is closing in on a ton here. While it is a well-made one, he himself would acknowledge that there are not many easy 100s he would have scored in his first-class career. He had to do his bit in the first hour by playing with discipline; after that, it was all one-way traffic. The slightest bit of pressure applied on the West Indies by him rattled the bowlers, and post-lunch, the bowling has been quite average, which is a polite way to put it. This is day 1 of the match, the body language of the West Indies is quite terrifying, not just for this game but for the future of their Test cricket.

Sai Sudharsan has got to his half-century here. He got there with a gorgeous cover-drive. This has been a good innings from him. He has played some nice shots and was proactive right from ball one. Well, the general way of batting at three is to absorb the pressure and play attritional cricket, which Sudharsan did try in his previous outings, which worked out for him quite averagely for the potential he has shown so far, but today the attacking game has worked out well for him. Is this going to be his approach going forward, or is it a one-match thing we will find out in the future?

When the wickets are flat as these one thing sides in the past have tried to do, or something which can be explored is a short-ball tactic. This is a black-soil wicket which does not have a lot of bounce on it, and it might take a lot out of fast bowlers to get that troubling height. If that is not West Indies are looking for, they can try and have fielders on one side of the wicket, preferably on the off-side, and keep operating that channel around off-stump for a brief spell and frustrate the batters for a bit.

This has been pretty ordinary bowling since Lunch. They are bowling some quite ordinary stuff and letting Jaiswal get some easy boundaries here. Roston Chase and Jayden Seales, who have started the session, have bowled either short and wide or have been quite a few full asking to be driven for a boundary. In the morning session for Seales, that line and length could have worked out because of the new ball and moisture, but now those are just asking to be hit. As per Chase, right from the start, he has been put under pressure, and now those loose balls are coming from him as well.

India had a solid first session with the partnerships between Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul initially, and then the opener continued his good work with Sai Sudharsan and held onto the innings nicely in the morning session. As per Rahul, it was a bit of an unlucky dismissal. The ball turned sharply, and Rahul, out of his crease, got stumped. Well, that's past. There is plenty to look forward to in this session. Do stay with us for all the live updates.

Nine months ago, a crowd of more than 12,000 struggled for entry to the Feroz Shah Kotla grounds early in the morning on a weekday to catch the first day of a Ranji Trophy fixture. With Virat Kohli, one of this city’s biggest sporting icons, making his comeback to the domestic circuit, fans thronged to New Delhi’s famous old stadium. Extra gates had to be opened, further seats had to be made available, security cover and deployment of local police had to be tightened on a whim.

Ahead of India’s second Test against the West Indies here starting Friday, the team’s first since Kohli announced his retirement from the longest format, no such fuss can be expected. Precious little local buzz can be felt in the national capital as Shubman Gill’s side arrive as the strong favourites to comfortably win the series against underwhelming opponents that look a far cry from the standards of the top tiers of the international game. (Read more from Namit Kumar)

Well, Sai Sudharsan defends one of Warrican's ball nicely, and it is Lunch on Day 1 here. Apart from that, Rahul's dismissal, where the ball turned sharply, it has been quite a predictable morning. The seamers looked threatening in the morning, and spinners, apart from Warrican, have been quite ordinary. Jaiswal has got his eye in the way this wicket is playing; it is going to be better in the noon session than it has been in the morning session, hence a three-digit score is there for the taking for him, and Sai Sudharsan too needs to make this innings count.

Sai Sudharsan has walked into the middle, and he has played a couple of cracking shots already. He has been a slow starter in his innings, whatever evidence he has given us with his batting, but today he so far in the 10 balls he has faced, he has looked a lot more proactive. This is an important innings for him, especially with Dhruv Jurel's ton in the previous Test. Sunil Gavaskar has a suggestion: that if he could be pushed at three, even if not Jurel, if Sudharsan is not going to have a big score in this home series, the selectors might be tempted to look elsewhere.

Rahul clipped one through the mid-wicket one for a boundary, which has brought up the 50-run stand between Jaiswal and Rahul. One of the healthiest signs of a good Test side is their openers giving good starts, and since these two have gotten together, they have made sure more often than not the middle order is not exposed to new ball bowlers and have successfully taken the shine off the ball so that the batters who follow have a bit more freedom with their stroke play. Well, a bit of an unusual part of this partnership has been that Rahul has dominated Jaiswal with his strike rate here.

Well, it is a bit of shared passage. Although the West Indies did not pick up any wickets, India has not given up the game either. There has been some tight bowling, nothing alarming, but enough to keep the batters quiet. However, the challenge for them begins now after the break, with both batters getting their eye in and the change bowlers coming in, batters will look a bit more to play on the aggressive side. Jaiswal, especially, we have seen the flick of the switch he can make through various stages of his innings, and it will be interesting to see if he will do it or continue his cautious approach.

Rahul has started well here again. In fact, he has scored more runs than Jaiswal and has more boundaries than Jaiswal, which is not something you associate with this pairing. Jaiswal has been playing similarly to the way he did in Ahmedabad, where he well into his shell a bit in the initial overs and then after a while he suddenly changed the gear from neutral to overdrive. As per Rahul, his innings in that game has seen a pretty stable tempo where he punished the bad balls and respected the good ones, and kept his innings going nicely.

KL Rahul played a nice shot down the leg side for a boundary, which was drifted down the pads by Anderson Philip. The ease with which he has been able to play that is indicative of the form he has been in. In the Ahmedabad Test, he broke the century drought at home, which had been ongoing for nine years, and he will be hoping to continue his good form in this Test too. While it is not fair to nit-pick on someone who has been scoring as many runs as him but his next challenge will be to score big 100s, the matching winning ones. The pitch and the quality of opposition provide an opportunity for him to do it yet again in this game.

This is interesting from Jaiswal. He is already standing out of the crease, which says two things: one, there is some moment in the wicket, and the other, the surface is a bit on the slower side, which is Kotla 101. Jaiswal has been in a run of okayish scores. The start he has had to his career in the West Indies and against England has not been maintained, and one cannot expect to do it either, but today is an opportunity. There are a few green patches, but nothing is alarming on this wicket, and if batters apply themselves, it is one of those wickets where just not hundreds but big hundreds are on the cards.

It's a pleasant morning in Delhi. It's not too warm, it's not too cold. This looks like an interesting pitch. What we have is grass areas where the absolute live grass will hold the surface together and the ball might skid off. And we have bald areas which will scuff up at some point during the Test match and bring the spinners into play. It's almost a pitch of two halves. It doesn't feel that hard either. I'm not expecting my kind (pacers) to get great deal of bounce and carry. This pitch will play better than it looks even though it looks patchy. It could be two-paced in nature. Win the toss and bat first here.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Dhruv Jurel(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

We will bat first, the wicket looks good to bat on Day 1. Consistency is the key for us. To be able to repeat performances and to be able to have the same intensity in every match that we play. Something that we often speak about and that's what we are trying to look for in this test match as well. Honestly, not much. I am still the same person but definitely have more responsibilities now. But I like responsibilities and a very exciting future for me (on being elevated across all formats). We have got the same team.

“The idea is to have a bunch of 15-18 top players from whom we can pick the right squad. Like at the moment, we have a pool of good fast bowlers and we want to be able to keep recruiting them so that they get enough opportunities."

During India's high-intensity training session before the second Test, the two marquee pacers, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah, presented a study in contrasts: Siraj, fresh off a successful tour, was outgoing and boisterous, constantly chirping, engaging with his coach Morne Morkel, and theatrically interacting with teammates, while Bumrah, recognized as the world's best bowler, was reserved and solitary, choosing to be left alone, taking neither advice nor seeking jest, and quietly retreating into the background while bowling fewer deliveries to protect his body

“Guess what? We never had the world’s best facilities, but in the past, we dominated world cricket for 17 years at a stretch. “I know that things have to get better (for cricket in West Indies). But the onus is on us; not just the players, but also the coaches and the support staff to make the best of what we have. It is my job to keep on inspiring and motivating the group, to find ways to make the guys consistent.”

"If there would be an opportunity, definitely we would be looking to play him (Prasidh Krishna). As of now, we want to play our strongest XI. Because WTC is something you have to win almost 70 per cent of your matches to be able to secure a spot in the finals. So, depending on where we are on the table... These are still early stages. So, we want to play the best XI and we want to play the best team that is available for us."

John Campbell, Tagnarine Chanderpaul, Alick Athinaze, Brandon King, Roston Chase (c), Shai Hope, Justin Greaves, Khary Pierre, Jomel Warrican, Johann Layne/Jediah Blades, Jayden Seales