IND vs WI, 1st Test: Shubman Gill's Men Look To Assert Home Dominance Against Struggling West Indies

Two teams, India and the West Indies, with very contrasting fortunes and auras will lock horns at the gigantic Narendra Modi Stadium in the first Test of the two-match Test series with everything to play for.

For India skipper Shubman Gill, this will be his second assignment after the challenging away tour of England where the visitors put up a spirited show to notch up a 2-2 draw against the Ben Stokes-led side.

Gill’s first series at home as captain of India will be crucial for the team considering their fortunes the last time they played a Test series on home soil in October last year against New Zealand.

On to the next chapter. Test cricket. 🤍🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/dmnFUTKU0d

— Shubman Gill (@ShubmanGill) October 1, 2025

India’s 3-0 whitewash by New Zealand under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma was unprecedented and humbling at the same time for Indian cricket.

For a country that prides itself on its stupendous home record and what is generally considered the toughest tour or one of the toughest in world cricket for visiting teams, the Kiwis turned that perception on the head with their efforts.

However, West Indies would be having mixed feelings approaching the series through the prism of what the Kiwis achieved considering their own performances off late and India’s power-packed team combination across departments.

The demons of 27 all out against Australia was their last Test outing and as Jomel Warrican stated in an earlier interaction with the media the Caribbean side will have to move on from that nightmare.

To understand the enormity of what the West Indies are up against one has to go back to when they last won a Test match in India which was 1994 and their last Test series victory coming 42 years back in 1983.

West Indies cricket is no longer the force they once were in the 1970s to mid-1990s when they dominated world cricket but cricket flows in their blood.

So underestimating the visitors would be the last thing on India’s mind in Ahmedabad.

The visitors would be missing the services of two premier fast bowlers in Shamar Joseph and Alzarri Joseph and Jayden Seales would have to shoulder the burden of bowling long spells against the formidable India batting line-up.

Jediah Blades has been drafted in to replace the injured Alzarri, who suffered a lower back injury dealing another body blow to the fledgling outfit.

Warrican and Justin Greaves would be headlining the spin department for the Windies and they would look to test the Indian batters, who would relish the challenge against the not-so-vaunted tweakers from the Caribbean.

India, on the other hand, would be aiming to exorcise the ghosts of New Zealand 2024 with a command performance against a struggling side. The presence of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah in the squad is an indication of India wanting to go for the kill and leave nothing to chance.

India's solid batting unit will hope to assert its authority

The opening combination of KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal will be looking at consolidating the good work they have been doing while Sai Sudharsan would be hoping to put on a solid show at number three.

Skipper Gill at No 4 and possibly Devdutt Padikkal at 5 would ensure India’s batting fortunes are in safe hands as they attempt to regain India’s stranglehold over visiting teams once again after what seemed like a blip last year against the gritty NZ.

Dhruv Jurel as the first choice wicket-keeper would bring in the added batting chops while vice-captain Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel will provide the batting depth and bowling straps that India are known to have.

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— BCCI (@BCCI) October 1, 2025

Nitish Kumar Reddy as the bowling all-rounder would come into play if the conditions mandate but the line-up as of now seems to be spin-focussed. The pace department will likely see the fiery Mohammad Siraj joining Bumrah unless conditions dictate the presence of Prasidh Krishna.

The last Test match Ahmedabad hosted was over two years ago when India and Australia played out a draw in March 2023. India would be targeting a result in their favour this time while West Indies would eye a positive start to put behind the horror of Jamaica.