In a long-awaited moment, India’s Test captain Shubman Gill experienced a change of fortune at the toss, finally winning the coin flip after an unusual run of six consecutive defeats. At the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, Gill called correctly against the West Indies, choosing for India to bat first in the second and final Test of the series.
(Image: West Indies captain Roston Chase (left) and Indian captain Shubman Gill (right) at the toss for the second Test in New Delhi. Photo courtesy: PTI)
India, confident in their dominant performance in the previous match, opted to go with an unchanged squad. The West Indies, however, made two strategic changes after suffering a hefty innings and 140-run defeat in the opening Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. They brought in Anderson Phillip and Tevin Imlach, replacing Brandon King and Johann Layne, in an effort to revitalize their team.
Gill’s unlucky streak with the coin began with his Test captaincy debut in England during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, where he lost all five tosses. The first Test in Ahmedabad also saw him lose the toss. His luck finally shifted when West Indies captain Roston Chase’s call for heads resulted in tails. This run of six straight toss losses placed Gill in the company of former captains like Tom Latham, who faced a similar fate. The all-time record for consecutive Test toss losses, seven, is held by New Zealand’s Bevan Congdon.
Addressing the media after the toss, Gill stated, “The wicket looks good, we want to pile on the runs. Consistency is key, to repeat performances and maintain performances.” He also expressed his enthusiasm for the future, having recently taken on the mantle of India’s ODI captaincy from Rohit Sharma, signaling a new chapter in his leadership journey.
Roston Chase, the West Indies captain, confirmed that his team would have also chosen to bat first had they won the toss. “We’d have batted first, pitch looks dry. We had some meetings, some deep discussions about our batting. Want to bat 90 overs. Gotta play every ball on its merit,” he explained, underscoring their intent to build a substantial score.
Here are the confirmed playing XIs for the second Test:
West Indies Playing XI:
- John Campbell
- Tagenarine Chanderpaul
- Alick Athanaze
- Shai Hope
- Roston Chase (c)
- Tevin Imlach (w)
- Justin Greaves
- Jomel Warrican
- Khary Pierre
- Anderson Phillip
- Jayden Seales
India Playing XI:
- Yashasvi Jaiswal
- KL Rahul
- Sai Sudharsan
- Shubman Gill (c)
- Dhruv Jurel (w)
- Ravindra Jadeja
- Washington Sundar
- Nitish Kumar Reddy
- Kuldeep Yadav
- Jasprit Bumrah
- Mohammed Siraj