On a day marked by unusual dismissals and Shubman Gill’s exceptional form, a brief period of resistance from the West Indies with the bat offered a welcome change to the expected script. However, the rest of the match unfolded as anticipated, with India’s captain, Gill, seizing the opportunity to dominate a less-than-stellar bowling attack.
Gill delivered a stellar performance, scoring 129 runs off 196 balls, including 16 fours and 2 sixes. His innings was a masterclass in elegance and control. Starting from an overnight score of 20, Gill showed remarkable decisiveness. He diligently worked on eliminating his earlier vulnerabilities against incoming deliveries by keeping his bat and pad close and maintaining disciplined footwork to find his timing. Yet, he was audacious enough to frequently step out and disrupt the bowlers’ rhythm.
The innings featured an array of stunning shots: exquisite flicks, powerful backfoot punches, graceful cover drives, sharp cuts, and a soaring lofted drive. Gill adeptly manipulated rival captain Roston Chase’s field placements, often peppering boundaries in quick succession, forcing changes, and then guiding the ball through new gaps. This stellar display propelled him to the second-highest average as captain after just seven Tests, an impressive 84.41, trailing only Don Bradman. He also equaled Virat Kohli’s remarkable achievement of scoring five centuries as captain in a calendar year.
Gill’s impactful century, coupled with rapid 40s from Nitish Kumar Reddy and Dhruv Jurel, allowed India to declare their innings at a commanding 518/5. It seems highly probable that India will not need to bat again in this Test match.
Gill’s fluid batting came after a contentious end to his partnership with Yashasvi Jaiswal, which concluded with a regrettable mix-up. Jaiswal, who had scored 175 runs off 258 balls (with 22 fours), narrowly missed what many believed would be a certain double century. He guided the eighth ball of the morning from Anderson Phillip to mid-off and then instinctively rushed towards the danger end, a run that seemed to never cross Gill’s mind. Predictably, Jaiswal couldn’t make it back and reacted with visible frustration before leaving the field. The drama deepened as replays revealed wicketkeeper Tevin Imlach barely had the ball in his gloves when he dislodged the bails. This incident echoed a similar baffling episode involving Jaiswal and Kohli in Melbourne late last year, though on both occasions, the call for the run originated from Jaiswal.
The day also witnessed another peculiar dismissal when West Indies opener John Campbell slog-swept Ravindra Jadeja directly into the helmet grill of forward short leg. Sai Sudharsan, with an incredible effort, held onto the ball but had to leave the field with an injured hand.
Later in the day, Jaiswal had cooled down enough to downplay his run-out, stating simply that “it’s a part of the game, so it’s fine.” Gill’s masterful performance for the Saturday crowd certainly helped mitigate the earlier disappointment. These types of encounters are often considered ‘banana-skin’ matches for India, where they are merely expected to win comfortably. Therefore, it was somewhat surprising to see Ravindra Jadeja (3/37 off 14 overs) and Kuldeep Yadav toil hard for their wickets when the West Indies began their innings, partly due to the Kotla pitch offering little assistance off the surface.
Alick Athanaze and Tagenarine Chanderpaul managed to forge the team’s first half-century partnership of the series, momentarily frustrating the Indian bowlers. Athanaze looked promising, scoring 41 runs off 84 balls—the highest individual score for the West Indies in the series—before the team’s batting collapsed once more. A series of nervous strokes led to back-to-back wickets between the first ball of the 33rd over and the third ball of the 34th, dismissing Athanaze and captain Chase, leaving the team reeling at 140/4 by stumps.
These soft dismissals were inexplicable and quickly re-established the expected dominance, leaving Gill to revel in the glory of his magnificent run of form. His innings solidified his position as India’s next major batting superstar and a clear choice for leadership in this format. As Jadeja aptly put it later, “It helps the team when the captain leads by example. Gill and Jaiswal are part of a new generation which believes in taking responsibility.”
However, on this particular day, Jaiswal was left to ponder what might have been, much like the West Indies batters.