"That was the thought process" - Shubman Gill reasons out Team India enforcing follow-on after win in IND vs WI 2025 2nd Test

India captain Shubman Gill has justified the follow-on decision after winning the second Test against the West Indies by seven wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Tuesday, October 14. The 26-year-old said that the hosts were 270 runs ahead and batting again would have unnecessarily forced the game into the fifth day, which could’ve proved tricky with the ball.

Notably, India declared their first innings for 518/5, thanks to centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal (175) and skipper Shubman Gill (129*). They then rolled out WI for 248 in their innings as Kuldeep Yadav bagged a fifer.

With 270 runs ahead, the Men in Blue enforced the follow-on, but the tourists stepped up and posted 390 in their second innings. John Campbell (115) and Shai Hope (103) scored centuries, sharing a 177-run partnership for the third wicket to bring the tourists back into the game. As a result, India had to bat once again in the second innings.

Speaking on the post-match show, Gill said (via Cricbuzz):

“We were around 300 runs ahead. We thought even if we scored like 500 runs and we have to get 6 or 7 wickets on day 5, it could be a tough day for us. So, that was the thought process.”

Gill also opened up about his 10th Test ton, saying he keeps things simple and does not think much about captaincy while batting in the middle:

“Batting is something that I've been doing since I was 3 or 4 years old. So, when I want to go out there, I just want to make decisions as a batsman. The one thing that you always strive for is how can you make your team win a match. And as a batsman, when I'm going out there, that's the only thought that I have.”

Notably, Gill finished as the third-highest run-getter in the two-match series against the West Indies, scoring 192 runs in three innings. The right-hander had also amassed 754 runs in the previous Test series in England earlier this year. His next assignment will be leading the Men in Blue in the upcoming three-match series in Australia, which begins on October 19.

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“We want to groom certain players” – Shubman Gill on India promoting Nitish Reddy in batting order in the first innings

Shubman Gill further shared why Nitish Reddy was promoted to No. 5 in the first innings. He said in the same interaction:

“He didn't really get to bowl in this match, but we don't want players to only play matches overseas. That puts a lot of pressure on the players. We want to groom certain players that we think can help us win matches overseas because that's been a challenge for us.”

Nitish Reddy scored 43 runs off 54 balls after being promoted ahead of wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel. Notably, the Andhra all-rounder slammed his maiden Test ton against Australia in Melbourne last year.

The medium pacer is equally handy with the ball, but wasn't bowled in the home Tests against WI, raising eyebrows from the fans and analysts.

Click here to check out the IND vs WI 2025 2nd Test scorecard.

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Edited by James Kuanal