IND vs WI 2025: India to play home Test without Virat, Rohit, Ashwin after almost 15 years

Published - 01 Oct 2025, 21:24 IST | Updated - 01 Oct 2025, 21:29 IST

India are set to face West Indies in a historic two-match Test on October 2 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The contest will be memorable for the fact that India will be taking the field at home without the presence of veterans Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin for the first time in nearly 15 years.

The last time India played a home Test without at least one of these stalwarts was against New Zealand in Nagpur back in 2010. In that match, India registered a commanding victory by an innings and 198 runs to clinch the three-match series 1-0, after the first two Tests had ended in draws.

New Zealand managed only 193 in their first innings, with Jesse Ryder scoring 59, while Ishant Sharma picked up 4/43 and Pragyan Ojha chipped in with 3/57. India’s reply was massive as they posted 566, built on Gautam Gambhir’s 78, Virender Sehwag’s 74, Rahul Dravid’s marathon 191, Sachin Tendulkar’s 61 and MS Dhoni’s 98. Daniel Vettori bowled tirelessly to claim 3/178. In their second outing, the visitors were bowled out for 175, with Ishant adding another three wickets to his tally and Harbhajan Singh taking 3/56.

After dominating the field for more than a decade, three of India’s modern greats have now announced their retirements. Ashwin brought the curtain down on his international career after the third Test against Australia in 2024 ended in a draw. Following his retirement, he recently hung his boots from his IPL career as well, further signing a historic deal with Sydney Thunder for the BBL 2025–26 season.

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Rohit and Kohli also bowed out of the longest format of the game in May 2025, just a week apart, ahead of India’s squad announcement for the England tour. Both had already retired from T20Is after leading India to a triumphant campaign in the 2024 T20 World Cup, held in the USA and West Indies.

Even without the presence of these veterans, India showed resilience in the five-Test series against England earlier this year, drawing it 2-2 after a hard-fought contest. With that performance behind them, the focus now shifts to the upcoming two-match series against West Indies, where India will aim for victory and valuable points in the World Test Championship 2025–27 cycle.

Shubman Gill (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, N Jagadeesan (WK), Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav