With Kohli, Pujara, and Rohit Sharma retired along with  Rahane sidelined, Sudharsan was seen as one of the batters to plug the middle-order hole. After his not so great debut series in England and the first Test at home against West Indies, he came good in the second Test in Delhi.

Sai Sudharsan lauds Gambhir's backing, says coach told him 'don't think that you have to score runs' before Delhi Test vs WI

Australia are number one with 36 points (100 per cent) and Sri Lanka are second with 16 points (66.67 per cent). India currently have 52 points or 61.90 per cent of total available and are at the third place.

World Test Championship 2025-27 Updated Points Table: India third, Australia first with Sri Lanka in between

After Virat Kohli asked the Test venues to be numbered in India, Ashwin had echoed the same view post India's 2-0 series win against West Indies which failed to attract any crowd.

Ashwin echoes Kohli's 2019 views on Test venues to be numbered in India

The gulf of quality gap between teams is clearly evident between the opponents, indicating England, Australia and India are in a different bracket while rest of the nations are struggling to cope with demands of red-ball cricket. 

Does Test cricket need two-tier system for World Test Championship?

Shubman Gill reached the milestone of 177 deliveries, striking 13 boundaries and a six. His unbeaten 129 is his highest score since the 269 he made against England in Birmingham earlier this year.

IND vs WI, 2nd Test: Gill surpasses Rohit, Sachin with his latest ton century vs West Indies

By breaching the three-figure mark at the national capital, Jaiswal became the second youngest Indian to reach seven Test hundreds, achieving the milestone before turning 24. This puts him ahead of even some of India’s greatest Test batters, including Virat Kohli and Sunil Gavaskar.

IND vs WI, 2nd Test: Yashasvi Jaiswal makes history in New Delhi by reaching seventh Test century

Playing at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in the second Test on Friday (Oct 10), Shubman won his first toss for India as the captain of the Test. This came on his seventh attempt, having gone six matches without winning a toss.

Watch: Indian team celebrates Shubman Gill's priceless moment, finally wins toss on seventh attempt

 Playing at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, the hosts showed faith in the same XI that won in Ahmedabad. This also meant that management retained faith in Sai Sudharsan at No. 3 despite his recent struggles. 

IND vs WI: India name unchanged Playing XI as hosts eye clean sweep in Delhi

Ahead of the second Test against the West Indies, captain Shubman Gill admired both Rohit and Virat for their experience and match-winning ability despite rumours that they are on the verge of retirement.

IND vs WI: Shubman Gill backs Rohit, Virat for 2027 ODI World Cup, says 'there are very few...'

Previously known as the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, the venue has been India’s comfort zone, having not lost a Test match since November 1987. This means none of the Indian players currently in the squad were born when the hosts last lost a match at the venue.

IND vs WI: Indian captain Shubman Gill wasn't even born when India last lost a Test in Delhi | Know more

Because of the injury, Pant has missed out the ongoing two-match home Test series against West Indies and Dhruv Jurel is keeping wickets in his place in the series.

Rishabh Pant set to undergo fitness test soon before making return to competitive cricket - Report

The win came against West Indies in Ahmedabad in the first of two Tests inside three days, thanks to some clinical bowling performance on the day 3 (Oct 4).

IND vs WI, 1st Test: Jadeja helps Gill's India start home season with scintillating win in Ahmedabad

Over the years, many batters have opened the batting for India in Test but none have been as effective as Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag or Murali Vijay if the numbers are to be looked at. Now, Rahul is reaching at the same level after a long span of stop-and-go career.

IND vs WI, 1st Test: Ton up Rahul joins Gavaskar and Sehwag in SPECIAL opening batters list

It was in 1978 when Gavaskar at hit a fifty-plus score, also against West Indies, in his first Test as captain at home. Since then, no other Indian captain has managed to achieve the same feat before Gill took matter in his own hands.

IND vs WI, 1st Test: Captain Gill joins legendary Gavaskar in EXCEPTIONAL list with 50 in Ahmedabad

Jasprit Bumrah returned to his best with 3/42 in the first Test against West Indies after a below par Asia Cup 2025 where he took only seven wickets in five matches during India's title-winning campaign. Bumrah also became fastest Indian pacer to take 50 Test wickets at home.

From Bumrah to Shami: Indian pacers fastest to take 50 Test wickets at home

 KL Rahul continued his solid form with an unbeaten 53, bringing up yet another half-century. Skipper Shubman Gill is holding firm at the other end with 18 runs and is currently not out. 

IND vs WI, 1st Test: Bowlers strangle visitors before Rahul's unbeaten fifty puts India in charge on day 1

His four-wicket haul in Ahmedabad is still the second best by an India pacer since Kapil Dev's 9/83 in 1983. Siraj is also the first Indian pacer since Umesh Yadav to take four wickets or more against West Indies in a Test in India. 

IND vs WI, 1st Test: Siraj comes out of Bumrah shadow with performance only next to Kapil Dev in Ahmedabad

The spinner last turned up for India in whites against New Zealand nearly an year ago before being overlooked in Australia and England. Kuldeep, however, celebrated his return to Test cricket with style with a wicket on a fairytale delivery.

Kuldeep, with less Tests than India bowling coach Morkel since debut, celebrates return to red-ball with fairytale wicket

With these wickets, Bumrah also became the fastest Indian pacer to take 50 wickets at home in 24 innings and equaled former pacer Javagal Srinath's long-standing record. Bumrah surpassed Kapil Dev (25 innings) and Ishant Sharma & Mohammed Shami - both 27 innings - to reach the milestone.

IND vs WI, 1st Test: Red-ball Bumrah leaves batters hanging dry with searing yorkers in cloudy Ahmedabad - WATCH

Ahead of the ongoing India vs West Indies Test series though, Jadeja was named the vice-captain under new skipper Shubman Gill's first home Test series. Jadeja was given the opportunity as India's regular vice-captain Rishabh Pant was left out of the squad because of an injury .

IND vs WI, 1st Test: Jadeja reveals he 'wasn't informed by BCCI' about being named vice-captain

India’s top scorer in the 2018 Test series was Prithvi Shaw, as he smashed 237 runs in three innings with a best of 134 runs. He also scored a 70-run knock in the second Test in Hyderabad and was given the Player of the Series award.

IND vs WI: Here's what happened last time West Indies toured India in red-ball format

There's been a new proposal sent to ICC to keep Test cricket relevant - a two-tier system which will divide the Test playing teams into two groups. The system, if accepted, will make it near impossible for West Indies have a Test series against India.

Explained: Is this last India vs West Indies Test series before ICC introduces new system?

Just 12 months ago, India completed their home Test series campaign on a losing spree as they were edged out by New Zealand 3-0. The humiliating series loss on home turf saw India pay a huge price as they would go on to miss the WTC final.

IND vs WI: Shubman Gill clears intention ahead of series opener, says 'looking to play some hard, grinding cricket'

Shubman Gill, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav will also be on the same ship as they, too, like Gautam Gambhir, will be playing in the Test series against the West Indies immediately after the Asia Cup assignment.

IND vs WI: Gautam Gambhir arrives in Ahmedabad days after Asia Cup final, sets sights on West Indies series