Ahmedabad: India bundled out West Indies twice in 89.2 overs, dismissing the visitors for 146 in the second innings on Saturday, making their innings and 140-run win that was completed in a little over two-and-a-half days one of their most one-sided Test wins.
Away wins are the most sought after. Winning at home is also an art, demanding a methodical approach. It is one thing to design pitch conditions to suit the home team’s needs. But for things to pan out exactly the way they want is among the imponderables in cricket. For India, from choosing the pitch with the right soil, judging the dampness of the surface, trusting the weather app, and then for the bowlers to land the ball in the right areas with guile, all needs to come together.
Think of how special India’s unbeaten winning streak at home that lasted 4,331 days and 18 series was, until New Zealand halted the juggernaut in late 2024. No other team has been there before. To try doing it all over again would be a tall ask. But India has made a start in Ahmedabad. The selectors transitioned the team, picked a young captain, recalibrated the strategy by departing from the practice of playing on rank turners and things fell into place against a weak West Indies side.
Indian cricket strategists would admit that the current Caribbean team is a poor specimen to make judgements. To be able to exploit some early morning moisture, India declared on their overnight score of 448/5. They were already 286 runs ahead and decided it would be enough. It proved more than adequate, West Indies have been dismissed for 162 in the first innings.
Mohammed Siraj, who had picked up a four-for in the first innings, his best show at home, was the one to open the floodgates in the second innings, with a bouncer to Tagenarine Chanderpaul (8). His pull was lapped up at square leg by a flying Nitish Reddy. The pitch was still playing true and the rough was still opening up for spin, but Ravindra Jadeja didn’t need any extra assistance. He rolled over West Indies top order just by inviting them to defend, which they failed miserably. With top order batters unable to get the bat ahead of their pads on front foot defence and handing out the easiest of catches to close-in fielders, the Windies were never going to make a match of it.
The visitors lost half their side in the first session and the rest folded up 90 minutes into the second session. Jadeja (4/54), Kuldeep Yadav (2/23) and Washington Sundar (1/18) did the bulk of the damage. Siraj backed his first innings effort with three more wickets, finishing with 7/71. When Jomel Warrican played a wild swipe against Siraj, it ended up in mid-off’s hands and his bat flipped over to mid-on, summing up how clueless the once mighty West Indies now look.
“I just think that we have to improve our skill levels. And we’re not doing it for long enough periods. In Test cricket, you have to do it for five days. If you just do it for maybe one day, two days, you’re not going to be on top or even in the game,” West Indies skipper Roston Chase said.
For the Indian spin attack to complete the formalities with ruthless efficiency, playing for the first time at home since R Ashwin’s retirement, is a positive sign for the future.
“I was playing a match in India without Ash for the first time, so sometimes I did find myself thinking, yeah, Ash will come on and bowl, and then realising he isn’t there,” said Jadeja about his long-time spin twin.
“But Kuldeep and Washy have already played so many matches…we can’t call them youngsters, but it was a different combination. In the future you will ask, Jaddu isn’t here, and someone else will be there. This is inevitable, and it will keep happening, but it feels good to contribute to the team.”