IND vs WI Day 2: Rahul, Jurel, and Jadeja’s tons push West Indies into a corner

For the West Indies, Friday (October 3, 2025) represented death by a thousand cuts. The proceedings were very much in line with the state of terminal decline Caribbean Test cricket finds itself in, as K.L. Rahul (100, 197b, 12×4), Dhruv Jurel (125, 210b, 15×4, 3×6), and Ravindra Jadeja (104 batting, 176b, 6×4, 5×6) ground the visitors down to an unrecognisable heap of dust.

At close on day two of the opening Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium, India was 448 for five, a massive 286 runs in the green. The only quibble one can have is that Jurel’s maiden Test century, Rahul’s second at home — after the 199 versus England in Chennai in 2016 — and Jadeja’s sixth in Test whites deserved a bigger audience than the few 100 spectators who had assembled in a stadium that can seat a lakh and more.

Rahul, who started from an overnight 53, was the first to reach the three-figure mark. He had two close shaves in the opening 30 minutes as an edge flew between the wicket-keeper and the first-slip, and another fell short of gully.

But the 33-year-old soon composed himself, executing a fine cut off seamer Justin Greaves for four and moving into the 90s with a swept boundary off tweaker Khary Pierre. A flicked single through mid-wicket brought him his 11th Test ton.

Rahul, however, fell in the first over after lunch as he leaned forward to drive left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican but hit straight to Greaves at short-cover. It was the second soft dismissal of the day after skipper Shubman Gill (50, 100b, 5×4), who was caught at first-slip while trying to reverse sweep spinner and skipper Roston Chase.

But Jurel and Jadeja ensured that India wouldn’t rue either setback as they came together for a 206-run partnership. Jurel smashed the first six of the Indian innings when he lofted Chase over mid-wicket to set things in motion. Jadeja took cue and soon hit Warrican for two clean strikes over long-on.

There would be three more from Jadeja off the same bowler, and in the same arc between deep mid-wicket and long-on, indicating the ease with which he batted all day. The fifth maximum, in fact, helped him move from 92 to 98, and the ton, Jadeja’s second in four innings, came courtesy a single to point.

Jurel reached his fifty by cutting Greaves to the third-man fence; moved into the 90s by flicking Pierre for four and earned his hundred with a boundary through mid-wicket off the left-arm spinner. The 24-year-old marked the milestone with a neat little celebration featuring a gun salute dedicated to his father, a war veteran.

An edge behind to Shai Hope brought about Jurel’s downfall and gave Pierre his first Test wicket, but it was not before West Indies had almost all of its life taken out.