WEST INDIES TOUR OF INDIA, 2025
Dhruv Jurel brought up his maiden Test ton. © AFP
India went about burying West Indies under a mountain of runs as KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel and Ravindra Jadeja hit hundreds to swell India’s lead to 286 by end of the second day’s play. Leeds, Manchester and now Ahmedabad – this is the third time in 2025 where India have had three centurions in a single innings. India went to stumps at 448/5.
The first hour on the second morning was perhaps a demonstration of how tough it can be for a visiting side with an inexperienced bowling unit to force their way through in India. Rahul and Shubman Gill barely broke a sweat before carrying India past the West Indies’ first-innings total by drinks. West Indies had one chance to send Rahul packing when Jayden Seales eked out an outside edge. But, the first slip was stationed slightly wide so the ball flew between him and the keeper. Gill was in complete control in his essay, bringing up his eighth half-century in Tests.
On the other side of the drinks break, West Indies switched plans. Left-arm spinner Kharry Pierre, who had operated from round the stumps till then, switched sides in order to try and exploit the footmarks outside the leg stump. The line was also useful in trying to curb the easy flow of runs. Rahul defended a couple of deliveries and then unfurled a pre-meditated reverse sweep. When Gill tried the same shot against Chase in the next over, who was bowling from round the stumps, he ended up hitting to the first slip. West Indies enjoyed an extended period of play where they plugged the flow of runs and the spinners used the rough patches well. Towards the end of the session, Rahul reached his 11th Test hundred, and only second at home.
India approached the post-Lunch session with the idea of repairing the scoring lull. Jomel Warrican tricked Rahul into hitting a tossed up delivery to Justin Greaves at extra cover, but Ravindra Jadeja and Jurel cranked up the attack. Jurel pulled Chase for the first six of the game over deep square leg and Jadeja gave Warrican the charge for two sixes over long on in the same over. The two batters constantly looked for scoring avenues as India’s lead grew.
Chase brought back Jayden Seales before the new ball was due, hoping to see reverse swing ruffle feathers. But that was not to be as Jadeja and Jurel stretched India’s lead to 112 at drinks in the second session. With the odd ball keeping low and consistently turning sharply (average turn of 3 degrees as compared to 2.4 on Day 1), Chase kept at it with the old ball and his spinners. Warrican switched ends but was in for the same treatment from Jadeja. He hit a fourth six – all over long on, all against Warrican, to take his sixes tally (79) past MS Dhoni’s in Tests. Only Rishabh Pant (90), Virender Sehwag (90) and Rohit Sharma (88) have more in the format.
After taking the new ball in the 98th over, West Indies managed to dry up the boundaries for an extended period of play in the final session but were no closer to making an incision. Jurel got to his maiden Test century in the second half of the final session, showing the capability to fill the void left by Rishabh Pant’s absence. He hit 15 fours and three sixes in his 210-ball 125 before Kharry Pierre had him caught behind, much against the run of play. But three overs later, Jadeja reached his three-figure milestone. He ended the day as India’s second highest scorer in Tests in 2025, overtaking Rahul.
Brief scores: India 448/5 (Dhruv Jurel 125, Ravindra Jadeja 104*, KL Rahul 100, Shubman Gill 50; Roston Chase 2-90) lead West Indies 162 (Justin Greaves 32; Mohammed Siraj 4-40, Jasprit Bumrah 3-42, Kuldeep Yadav 2-25) by 286 runs
© Cricbuzz
