Dominant India eye series sweep

Fri, 10 October 2025
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A confident India will be looking to continue their rampaging form and register another convincing victory against West Indies in the second Test in New Delhi on Friday.

The only area of concern for the Indians will be the form of Sai Sudharsan at No 3, who hasn't been unable to come up with consistent performances to justify his inclusion.

It could turn out to be another lop-side contest as India's fine ensemble of individually gifted cricketers will be pitted against a West Indies outfit that looks a pale shadow of its glorious past and is struggling to stay relevant in Tests.

For India, another dominating performance isn't just about wrapping up the series, but also about firming their grip on the World Test Championship points table and carrying a surge of confidence into the far sterner challenge that awaits against South Africa at home later this year.

The surface at the Feroz Shah Kotla promises another quick finish. Assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate noted a "dry patch" that he felt could be helpful for seamers.

That alone ensures that Nitish Kumar Reddy, a promising young all-rounder, will retain his spot as India go in with an unchanged XI.

For Nitish, bowling remains his primary currency in this format.

With India's batting line-up as deep and secure as any in world cricket, his evolution as a seam-bowling all-rounder is what the team management is keen to nurture in the long run.

The selectors and coaches aren't too concerned yet about Sai Sudharsan but six failures in his last seven completed innings do present a reality check for a player still finding his rhythm in the demanding red-ball arena.

Yashasvi Jaiswal got a start, K L Rahul is in the form of his life having scored three hundreds in his last six Tests and with skipper Shubman Gill also helping himself with a half century, Sudharsan's poor scores stuck out like a sore thumb as Dhruv Jurel and Ravindra Jadeja also scored centuries.

While India's dressing room buzzes with purpose, the West Indies appear adrift, trapped in a cycle of mediocrity that even their own legends find hard to explain.

Head coach Darren Sammy put it bluntly on the eve of second Test, calling the decline "a terminal disease, the cure of which looks improbable at the moment."

The Kotla track, primarily a black soil one, promises good value for shots and if India get to bat first, the top order would again like to plunder a club class Windies bowling attack where only Jayden Seals looked the part in the first Test.