West Indies left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican made an immediate impact on the opening day of the second Test against India at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. In just his first over, Warrican dismissed KL Rahul with a stunning delivery that spun sharply to beat the Indian batter both in the air and off the pitch, handing the visitors a crucial early breakthrough.
Warrican flighted the ball outside off, enticing Rahul to come down the track. However, the ball gripped the surface and turned viciously, leaving Rahul stranded out of his crease as wicketkeeper Tevin Imlach whipped off the bails with precision. The delivery, which turned an impressive 8.4 degrees, left Rahul visibly surprised by the amount of spin and bounce.
“𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 — 𝒊𝒕 𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝑹𝒂𝒉𝒖𝒍’𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆. 𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕,” 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒅𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒕.
Before his dismissal, Rahul had looked in excellent touch, scoring 38 off 54 balls, including five boundaries and a six. The Indian batter even smashed Khary Pierre over long-on for his 27th Test six, surpassing the legendary Sunil Gavaskar’s tally. Partnering with Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rahul helped India get off to a steady start after winning the toss and electing to bat first.
India’s Steady Start Despite Early Setback
Earlier in the morning, new Test captain Shubman Gill won his first toss and chose to bat on what looked like a good surface for batting. India fielded an unchanged XI, while the West Indies made two changes, bringing in Tevin Imlach and Anderson Phillip for Brandon King and Johann Layne.
The Indian openers started cautiously, with Jaiswal surviving a few nervy moments early on, including a play-and-miss off Phillip in the 10th over. However, he continued to rotate the strike effectively, while Rahul played his shots with confidence.
“𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏’𝒔 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑾𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕,” 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕-𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒚𝒔𝒊𝒔.
At the end of 20 overs, India were 72 for 1, with Jaiswal unbeaten on 26 and debutant B Sai Sudharsan batting on 8. The West Indies pacers — Jayden Seales, Anderson Phillip, and Justin Greaves — bowled disciplined spells, keeping the hosts in check despite the early dominance.
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