India will meet the West Indies in a historic two-match Test on October 2 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The clash will be historic since India will play at home without stalwarts Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravichandran Ashwin for the first time in over 15 years.
India’s last home Test without at least one of these stalwarts was against New Zealand in Nagpur in 2010. India won that match by an innings and 198 runs, clinching the three-match series 1-0 after the first two Tests ended in draws.
New Zealand managed only 193 in their first innings, with Jesse Ryder batting 59, Ishant Sharma 4/43, and Pragyan Ojha 3/57. India responded massively, scoring 566 runs, with Gautam Gambhir scoring 78, Virender Sehwag scoring 74, Rahul Dravid scoring a marathon 191, Sachin Tendulkar contributing 61, and MS Dhoni scoring 98. Daniel Vettori bowled tirelessly and claimed 3/178. In their second outing, the visitors were knocked out for 175, with Ishant adding three more wickets and Harbhajan Singh getting 3/56.
After dominating the game for over a decade, three of India’s modern greats have declared their retirement. Ashwin’s international career concluded with a draw in the third Test against Australia in 2024. Following his retirement, he also ended his IPL career, signing a landmark contract with the Sydney Thunder for the BBL 2025-26 season.
Rohit and Virat Kohli also bowed out of the longest format of the game in May 2025,
Just a week apart, ahead of India’s squad announcement for the England tour. Both had already retired from T20Is after leading India to a triumphant campaign in the 2024 T20 World Cup, held in the USA and West Indies.
Even without the presence of these veterans, India showed resilience in the five-Test series against England earlier this year, drawing it 2-2 after a hard-fought contest. With that performance behind them, the focus now shifts to the upcoming two-match series against West Indies, where India will aim for victory and valuable points in the World Test Championship 2025–27 cycle.
India’s squad for West Indies Test series 2025:
Shubman Gill (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, N Jagadeesan (WK), Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav
India
