New Delhi: India comfortably took down a spirited West Indies in the 2nd Test at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Tuesday to complete a clean sweep
in the two-match series and achieve a historic first. India thrashed West Indies by 7 wickets in the final Test to clinch their 10th consecutive series victory against the visitors, achieving the feat for the first time against any opponent in the longest format.
India equalled South Africa’s (10) record for most consecutive Test series victories against an opponent with their 2-0 win, however, the series was an opportunity missed for the hosts. The two-match rubber could have served as the perfect platform for India to test their bowling bench strength and give more game time to Nitish Reddy, who has already been earmarked as the next pace all-rounder in the longest format.
However, the hosts failed to do either. While it’s no secret that there was pressure to bounce back after their 0-3 drubbing at the hands of New Zealand in their last Test series at home, India still had little to fear against a struggling West Indies side in home conditions. The series could have been utilised to build Reddy and find a third pacer for overseas conditions, however, India had other priorities.
Chance missed on developing pace depth
India’s 3-1 loss against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and the pace attack’s overdependence on Mohammed Siraj in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah in England should have served as a stark reminder about developing the depth in the pace department for overseas Tests. With little to no pressure, the selectors and the team management could have given others a chance against West Indies.
However, Bumrah and Siraj once again shared the majority of the bowling workload in the series. The likes of Akash Deep, Mukesh Kumar, Arshdeep Singh and Prasidh Krishna have been in and around the Indian Test squad for a while now. However, none, barring Akash Deep, has managed to stake a claim for a regular spot.
Akash Deep was not selected despite recovering from his injury ahead of the series, while Mukesh was ignored completely. Prasidh, who was part of the squad, warmed the bench in both matches with the duo of Siraj playing. India should have ideally gone into the series with at least one new pacer alongside Bumrah or Siraj to test them in tricky conditions and prepare them for future overseas assignments.
Only talk, no action on Nitish Reddy
Ahead of the 2nd Test against West Indies in Delhi, India’s assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate spoke in detail about how the team management intends to develop Nitish Reddy as India’s next prominent pace all-rounder in Tests. Ten Doeschate stressed that they wanted to give Reddy more game time to prepare him for overseas assignments in the future.
However, there was only talk and no action on the field. While he did get a chance to bat, in the first innings, Reddy was severely underutilised with the ball in the match. The young all-rounder didn’t get to bowl a single over in the game, a decision that raised eyebrows.
Despite the Indian bowlers leaking runs against John Campbell and Shai Hope during West Indies’ second innings and later struggling to break the 10th wicket stand between tail-enders Justin Greaves and Jayden Seales, Reddy was not called upon. Skipper Gill and the team management’s decision not to bowl Reddy at all in the Test match, contradicted their own reasoning about the all-rounder’s presence in the XI for the 2nd Test, when there were calls to include Axar Patel on what was a dry wicket.
![[WATCH] IND vs WI 2025: KL Rahul cries in pain after ball hits his groin, physio comes to check](https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/1760352781232_KL-Rahul.jpeg)
