IMAGES from Day 2 of the 2nd Test between India and West Indies at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, in New Delhi, on Saturday.
Shubman Gill struck his 10th Test century, while Ravindra Jadeja picked up three wickets as India dominated Day 2 of the second Test against West Indies, in Delhi, on Saturday.
Spinners Ravindra Jadeja (3/37) and Kuldeep Yadav (1/45) chipped away at the wickets to leave West Indies in trouble on 140/4 at stumps on Day 2, still trailing India by 378 runs.
Shai Hope was unbeaten on 31, with Tevin Imlach on 14 as the West Indies' top order again failed to capitalise on their starts.
Earlier, India posted a huge first innings total of 518/5 declared before declaring in the post-lunch session on the second day.
Gill (129 not out) cruised to his century in the post-lunch session but without caring for an easy double hundred which looked inevitable against a poor bowling attack.
Despite the pitch not having any significant wear and tear, it was still good enough for Jadeja to work his magic in tandem with Kuldeep.
For Viv Richards and Brian Lara, seated in the stands, watching the application from some of the Caribbean batters certainly wouldn't have been amusing.
John Campbell would consider himself extremely unlucky for the way he got dismissed. His full-blooded sweep that should have gone for a boundary, rammed into Sai Sudharsan's knuckle at short leg and got stuck as he was trying to take evasive action.
But Tagenarine Chanderpaul (34) and Alick Athanaze (41) added 66 runs before Jadeja and Kuldeep struck in quick succession.
Chanderpaul perished while trying to open the face of the bat as he dabbed one down to third man and was caught by K L Rahul at slip, before Athanaze gave his wicket away attempting a reckless slog sweep off Kuldeep to be caught at midwicket.
Skipper Roston Chase (0) offered a tame return catch to Jadeja and it was a tale of familiar collapse.
The second day belonged to Gill, who continued his dream run with the bat n 2025. The skipper, who faced 196 deliveries, hit 16 boundaries and two sixes, added 91 for the fourth wicket with Nitish Kumar Reddy (43) and 102 for the fifth wicket with Dhruv Jurel (44), who decided to up the ante after lunch.
India on the second day batted for 44.2 overs and added 200 runs to the overnight score of 318 for two.
Gill's century came with a cut shot off Khary Pierre that got him three runs -- his fifth in his last seven Tests apart from a half-century in the previous game.
For West Indies, left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican (3/98) was the pick of the bowlers.
Even as Yashasvi Jaiswal (175) was unfortunately run-out at the start of the day, Gill's concentration didn't waver with his boundary count reaching 11 fours along with a maximum, going into the break.
Reddy (43 off 54 balls), promoted to get some valuable batting time and prop up the score in quick time, added 91 for the fourth wicket in just 17.1 overs.
The best shot of the morning session and that too by a distance was the one that brought up Gill's second fifty of the series. With a packed off-side field, Jayden Seales bowled on middle-leg with Gill flicking it through the vacant mid-wicket region. When Justin Greaves was brought into the attack, his lack of pace allowed Gill to step out and loft him over mid-wicket for his first six.
Gill, who had decided to defend during the final hour of the opening day, came out with a different mindset.
It only helped that Anderson Phillip sprayed all over and was hit for a flurry of boundaries. A delivery on the pads was quickly dispatched behind square on the leg-side.
In his next over, Phillip was cut square of the wicket -- one a bit late behind square and the other in-front with same intent that produced same result. There was an on-drive and when the keeper was brought up to the stumps with '7-2' off-side field, he stepped out and hit over extra cover.
Reddy started with a cover drive off Seales and then hit another couple of fours by deliberately opening the bat face, guiding the ball through the slip cordon. After being dropped by Phillip off Warrican's bowling, Reddy thumped the same bowler over long on fence for a six. He repeated the same shot in his next over.
The only possible mode of dismissal for Jaiswal seemed to be a run-out, and that's exactly how his marathon innings ended following a mix-up with Gill, who sent him back after the batter had crossed more than halfway down for a quick single.
Gill could be held partly responsible as it was Jaiswal's call after he had pushed the ball slightly to the right of mid-off. Had Gill trusted his partner and continued running, the single looked very much on, with Jaiswal already sprinting towards the danger end.
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