After a crushing Test series loss to New Zealand at home, Team India needed some redemption. Gautam Gambhir’s resume as Test coach didn’t inspire much confidence while the team happened to be in a period of transition. But Shubman Gill, the leader, has been immensely successful so far.
He inspired the team in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy and has walloped a much-deserved Test series win against the West Indies. The first Test in Ahmedabad saw no contest and a snoozefest as the Windies surrendered quite easily. But in the second bout in Delhi, the visitors showed some grit and made India work hard to clinch the series. Now the red ball action is done and dusted, we take a look at some important takeaways from the India vs West Indies Test series.
Takeaways from India vs West Indies Test series
- Shubman Gill’s learning curve
This was Shubman Gill’s maiden series at home as a Test captain. He won the dressing room over after a historic runs-filled India tour of England and eyed a great start in India. While he did sweep the series unscathed, there were a couple of learnings for the Test skipper.
India were a bit lucky that the West Indies didn’t put up a strong performance. But there were moments that India took them a bit lightly. This was shown in Delhi, where India enforced the follow-on earlier than many expected. India were touted to bat for the entire two days but they declared after 518/5. The Windies then showed immense courage in their second innings that forced the match to go till Day 5.
In a Test where India could’ve folded the game inside four days, Gill’s men had to walk out early on Day 5. There was a bit of complacency that exhibited from their shoulders but that is alright until India irons out these mistakes when South Africa comes to the Indian shores.
- Underutilisation of Nitish Kumar Reddy
In a home Test series where the pitches offered more to spinners than to the pacers, it came as a huge confidence booster for Nitish Kumar Reddy that he got to play both the games. As the coaches and captain himself mentioned, they are looking to groom Reddy as India’s perfect seam-bowling option in Tests.
But how will you groom if you are not going to bowl him? He’s had limited opportunities, scoring 43 off 54 in his only innings and not quite capitalizing on a big score. With the ball, he’s bowled just four overs across four innings! So, he fielded for almost 300 overs in the series, bowling a mere 24 balls. Yes, the conditions in Delhi didn’t have great carry for pacers but when the Windies players showed grit, India could’ve tested Nitish Reddy to explore his bowling might.
- Kuldeep-Jadeja new pair
Two Player of the Match awards and one Player of the Series award counted for three accolades. Well, the duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav shared all three between them as the left arm duo bamboozled the West Indies easily.
It is quite tough to keep someone like Axar Patel on the bench in Indian conditions. But with Ravindra Jadeja, the best Test allrounder, and Kuldeep, who is India’s best all-format spinner, it is paramount to use them in pair. This was India’s first home Test without Ravichandran Ashwin since his retirement. With the bulk of wickets he took during his career isn’t going to be replicated but Kuldeep and Jadeja didn’t let the fans miss the Tamil Nadu legend.
Kuldeep bagged the Man of the Match in Delhi, striking eight wickets and ended up as the leading wicket-taker in the series. He was once again a master with his guile. Meanwhile, Jaddu started the tour with a blazing hundred in his home state, Gujarat. He also picked up eight wickets in the series and showed who’s the boss, especially in India.
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