Coach Gautam Gambhir lauded the leadership qualities of new captain Shubman Gill as India completed a 2-0 Test series win over the West Indies in Delhi.
The hosts defeated a spirited Caribbean side by seven wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium with opener KL Rahul hitting an unbeaten 58.
Chasing 121 for victory, India resumed on 63-1 and reached their target in the first session.
Rahul hit the winning four as Gill registered his first Test series win in only his second assignment as India captain.
The middle order batter had been thrown into the deep end when he led the side out for the first time in a five-match series in England earlier in the year.
There, India were without stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, and also had to contend with availability issues of pace ace Jasprit Bumrah. Even so, India levelled the Test series 2-2 with Gill scoring over 700 runs.
The West Indies series was not as demanding as the England tour, but a 2-0 win is an important milestone in India's quest for the World Test Championship final – a mark they missed after stunning series defeats late last year.
“I think he's already passed his toughest test as a Test captain and that was in England,” Gambhir said of Gill, who has since also taken over as captain of the one-day squad.
“Five Test matches over a course of two-and-a-half months, against a quality England side, against an intimidating batting line-up and leading an inexperienced Indian team. What more could he have faced?”
Gill scored 754 runs in the five-Test series in England and hit his fifth Test century of the year in the series finale against West Indies.
Gambhir said Gill has earned his position as a leader. “No one has done him a favour by appointing him the Test and one-day captain,” Gambhir added. “He deserves every bit of it. He's worked hard and he ticks all the boxes … what more can a coach ask for?”
Gill now has four wins from seven Tests as captain. And while it is too early to think about India's chances of qualifying for the next WTC final, a good start to Gill's captaincy is bound to fill supporters with confidence.
Coach Gambhir said there is no point thinking so far ahead. “I'm not looking at what's going to happen in the World Test Championship final [in 2027],” he said.
“I think staying in the present is very important, and it was important for us to win the series at home.
“More importantly, we've got a very busy schedule. Hopefully, we can continue from here … 2027 that is still a long, long away for us.”
West Indies count the positives
West Indies captain Roston Chase said the fighting spirit showed by his batters in the second innings in Delhi was a “stepping stone” in reviving the fortunes for the Caribbean team.
The tourists forced India to bat on the fifth day after being made to follow on 270 runs behind.
The West Indies hit back with John Campbell (115) and Shai Hope (103) sharing a 177-run stand for the third wicket.
Even tail-enders Justin Greaves (50 not out) and Jayden Seales (32) put on 79 runs for the last wicket to take the score to 390 and give India a 121-run target.
“This is the kind of fight that I wanted to see from us from matches before,” Chase said.
“This is a stepping stone, a building step for us to go forward and improve as a Test playing nation.
“[It] will give us the confidence and boost us in terms of that belief that we can do it against proper Test playing nations.”
West Indies lost the opening Test by an innings and 140 runs.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
If you go:
Getting there:
Flying to Guyana requires first reaching New York with either Emirates or Etihad, then connecting with JetBlue or Caribbean Air at JFK airport. Prices start from around Dh7,000.
Getting around:
Wildlife Worldwide offers a range of Guyana itineraries, such as its small group tour, the 15-day ‘Ultimate Guyana Nature Experience’ which features Georgetown, the Iwokrama Rainforest (one of the world’s four remaining pristine tropical rainforests left in the world), the Amerindian village of Surama and the Rupununi Savannah, known for its giant anteaters and river otters; wildlifeworldwide.com
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
SPEC SHEET
Display: 6.8" edge quad-HD dynamic Amoled 2X, Infinity-O, 3088 x 1440, 500ppi, HDR10 , 120Hz
Processor: 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1/Exynos 2200, 8-core
Memory: 8/12GB RAM
Storage: 128/256/512GB/1TB
Platform: Android 12
Main camera: quad 12MP ultra-wide f/2.2, 108MP wide f/1.8, 10MP telephoto f/4.9, 10MP telephoto 2.4; Space Zoom up to 100x, auto HDR, expert RAW
Video: 8K@24fps, 4K@60fps, full-HD@60fps, HD@30fps, super slo-mo@960fps
Front camera: 40MP f/2.2
Battery: 5000mAh, fast wireless charging 2.0 Wireless PowerShare
Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC
I/O: USB-C
SIM: single nano, or nano and SIM, nano and nano, eSIM/nano and nano
Colours: burgundy, green, phantom black, phantom white, graphite, sky blue, red
Price: Dh4,699 for 128GB, Dh5,099 for 256GB, Dh5,499 for 512GB; 1TB unavailable in the UAE
Book%20Details
%3Cp%3E%3Cem%3EThree%20Centuries%20of%20Travel%20Writing%20by%20Muslim%20Women%3C%2Fem%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EEditors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESiobhan%20Lambert-Hurley%2C%20Daniel%20Majchrowicz%2C%20Sunil%20Sharma%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EIndiana%20University%20Press%3B%20532%20pages%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Where to buy art books in the UAE
There are a number of speciality art bookshops in the UAE.
In Dubai, The Lighthouse at Dubai Design District has a wonderfully curated selection of art and design books. Alserkal Avenue runs a pop-up shop at their A4 space, and host the art-book fair Fully Booked during Art Week in March. The Third Line, also in Alserkal Avenue, has a strong book-publishing arm and sells copies at its gallery. Kinokuniya, at Dubai Mall, has some good offerings within its broad selection, and you never know what you will find at the House of Prose in Jumeirah. Finally, all of Gulf Photo Plus’s photo books are available for sale at their show.
In Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi has a beautiful selection of catalogues and art books, and Magrudy’s – across the Emirates, but particularly at their NYU Abu Dhabi site – has a great selection in art, fiction and cultural theory.
In Sharjah, the Sharjah Art Museum sells catalogues and art books at its museum shop, and the Sharjah Art Foundation has a bookshop that offers reads on art, theory and cultural history.
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
Day 1, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Dimuth Karunaratne had batted with plenty of pluck, and no little skill, in getting to within seven runs of a first-day century. Then, while he ran what he thought was a comfortable single to mid-on, his batting partner Dinesh Chandimal opted to stay at home. The opener was run out by the length of the pitch.
Stat of the day - 1 One six was hit on Day 1. The boundary was only breached 18 times in total over the course of the 90 overs. When it did arrive, the lone six was a thing of beauty, as Niroshan Dickwella effortlessly clipped Mohammed Amir over the square-leg boundary.
The verdict Three wickets down at lunch, on a featherbed wicket having won the toss, and Sri Lanka’s fragile confidence must have been waning. Then Karunaratne and Chandimal's alliance of precisely 100 gave them a foothold in the match. Dickwella’s free-spirited strokeplay meant the Sri Lankans were handily placed at 227 for four at the close.
What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
