Two different competitions. Two different India captains. Two completely different playing XIs. In October 2025, Shubman Gill led India to a 2-0 Test series sweep over West Indies. Four months later, Suryakumar Yadav led an almost entirely different squad past the same opponent in a virtual quarter-final at the T20 World Cup. If you only follow scorelines, both results look similar India won comfortably both times.
Look at the actual player lists, and you realize these were essentially two different Indian teams beating West Indies in two completely different ways.
The Big Picture: Two Fixtures, Two Different Squads
India met West Indies twice in this cycle: a two-match Test series in India during October 2025, and a T20 World Cup 2026 Super Eight match at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, in March 2026. India won the Test series 2-0, and then beat West Indies again by 5 wickets in the T20 World Cup, eliminating them from the tournament.
What most people miss is that barely any player carried over meaningful game time between these two squads the Test XI was built around Shubman Gill’s red-ball specialists, while the T20 XI was an entirely separate white-ball unit led by Suryakumar Yadav.
Test Series Playing XIs: India’s Depth on Display
The 1st Test at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, saw India field a squad built around youth and returning depth. West Indies won the toss and elected to bat first, but the match turned into a rout.
India Playing XI: 1st Test, Ahmedabad
| Player | Role |
|---|---|
| Yashasvi Jaiswal | Opener |
| KL Rahul | Opener |
| Sai Sudharsan | Batter |
| Shubman Gill (c) | Captain, batter |
| Ravindra Jadeja | Allrounder |
| Dhruv Jurel (wk) | Wicketkeeper |
| Washington Sundar | Allrounder |
| Nitish Kumar Reddy | Allrounder |
| Kuldeep Yadav | Spinner |
| Jasprit Bumrah | Bowler |
| Mohammed Siraj | Bowler |
India dismissed West Indies for just 162 in the first innings, then declared on 448 for 5, before bowling West Indies out again for 146, sealing an innings-and-140-run win. Kuldeep Yadav was the standout bowler, finishing with 5 for 82 in the match.
West Indies Playing XI: 1st Test, Ahmedabad
| Player | Role |
|---|---|
| Tagenarine Chanderpaul | Opener |
| John Campbell | Opener |
| Alick Athanaze | Batter |
| Brandon King | Batter |
| Shai Hope (wk) | Wicketkeeper |
| Roston Chase (c) | Captain |
| Justin Greaves | Allrounder |
| Jomel Warrican | Spinner |
| Jayden Seales | Bowler |
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Here’s where things go wrong for anyone who assumes a rebuilding West Indies side means an automatic mismatch.
Most people think India’s dominance came purely from talent gaps. The reality is India’s own squad was still finding its post-transition identity too, with several uncapped or lightly-capped players like Sai Sudharsan and Nitish Kumar Reddy getting genuine opportunities in this series. This wasn’t a settled powerhouse steamrolling a weak opponent it was a young, hungry India squad clicking at exactly the right moment.
Turning point: India’s declaration at 448 for 5 gave their bowlers more than enough time and runs to work with twice over, and Kuldeep Yadav’s five-wicket haul in the first innings ensured West Indies never had a foothold in the match.
The 2nd Test at Delhi produced an even more complete performance, headlined by Ravindra Jadeja’s all-round masterclass a century plus four wickets in the same match, earning him Player of the Match honors. India posted 518 for 5 declared, built around centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal (175) and Shubman Gill (129), before bowling West Indies out twice to complete a 7-wicket win and a clean series sweep.
2nd Test Key Contributors Delhi
| Player | Team | Contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Yashasvi Jaiswal | India | 175 in the first innings |
| Shubman Gill | India | 129 in the first innings |
| Sai Sudharsan | India | 87 in the first innings |
| Ravindra Jadeja | India | Century plus 4 wickets, Player of the Match |
| Kuldeep Yadav | India | 3 wickets in the second innings |
What people think happened in this Test is that India simply had a big batting day.
The reality is far more specific: three separate India batters passed fifty in the same innings, and Jadeja’s all-round contribution across both disciplines is the kind of performance that defines careers, not just a single match.
T20 World Cup Super Eight: A Completely Different India
Fast forward to March 2026, and India’s squad for the T20 World Cup Super Eight clash against West Indies barely resembled the Test squad at all. Suryakumar Yadav captained a white-ball unit built for explosive batting and variety bowling.
India Playing XI: T20 World Cup Super Eight, Eden Gardens
| Player | Role |
|---|---|
| Sanju Samson (wk) | Wicketkeeper-batter |
| Abhishek Sharma | Opener |
| Ishan Kishan | Batter |
| Suryakumar Yadav (c) | Captain |
| Tilak Varma | Batter |
| Hardik Pandya | Allrounder |
| Shivam Dube | Allrounder |
| Axar Patel | Allrounder |
| Arshdeep Singh | Bowler |
| Varun Chakravarthy | Spinner |
| Jasprit Bumrah | Bowler |
Only Jasprit Bumrah played a genuinely central role across both the Test series and this T20 World Cup match, a detail that gets completely overlooked in competitor squad listings. West Indies fielded a similarly white-ball-focused unit, led by Shai Hope rather than Roston Chase, who had captained the Test side.
West Indies Playing XI: T20 World Cup Super Eight, Eden Gardens
| Player | Role |
|---|---|
| Shai Hope (c, wk) | Captain, wicketkeeper |
| Brandon King | Opener |
| Shimron Hetmyer | Batter |
| Rovman Powell | Batter |
| Sherfane Rutherford | Allrounder |
| Roston Chase | Allrounder |
| Romario Shepherd | Allrounder |
| Jason Holder | Allrounder |
| Matthew Forde | Bowler |
| Gudakesh Motie | Spinner |
| Shamar Joseph | Bowler |
West Indies posted a competitive 195 for 4, with Roston Chase scoring 40 and Jason Holder finishing unbeaten on 37. This was no routine group match both teams were tied on points, meaning it was a genuine virtual quarter-final with elimination on the line. Chasing 196,
India’s pursuit became a showcase for one player: Sanju Samson finished unbeaten on 97 off just 50 balls, guiding India home by 5 wickets with four balls to spare.
This is a genuinely counterintuitive insight worth stating directly: Samson’s innings wasn’t just a good T20 knock. It was India’s highest-ever successful run chase in T20 World Cup history, a record that instantly places this specific performance above almost every other individual batting effort in the tournament.
What people think happened here is that India, given their overall dominance over West Indies, cruised through as expected. The reality is India needed 36 runs from 24 balls at one stage, making this genuinely tense until Samson’s acceleration in the closing overs settled it.
Turning point: Samson’s calculated aggression against West Indies’ death bowlers in the final five overs turned a tight chase into a statement elimination win, sending West Indies out of the tournament entirely.
Player Performance Breakdown (Across Both Fixtures)
| Player | Team | Best Performance | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ravindra Jadeja | India | Century + 4 wickets, 2nd Test Delhi | Rare all-round Player of the Match performance |
| Yashasvi Jaiswal | India | 175 in 2nd Test Delhi | Career-defining Test innings |
| Sanju Samson | India | 97* (50) in T20 World Cup | India’s highest-ever T20 World Cup successful chase |
| Kuldeep Yadav | India | 5/82 across 1st Test | Central to India’s innings-victory bowling effort |
| Roston Chase | West Indies | 40 in T20 World Cup, captained Test side | West Indies’ most consistent contributor across formats |
| Jason Holder | West Indies | 37* & 2/38 in T20 World Cup | All-round effort in a losing cause |
| Shubman Gill | India | 129 in 2nd Test Delhi, Test captain | Led India’s Test sweep with bat and captaincy |
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An original observation worth stating plainly: Ravindra Jadeja’s all-round performance at Delhi deserves to be remembered as one of the most complete individual Test displays of the year, even though it happened in a series many assumed would be one-sided from the start. A century plus a four-wicket haul in the same Test against any opponent is genuinely rare, and it shouldn’t be overshadowed just because the opponent was a rebuilding West Indies side.
Key Player Battles to Watch
- Jasprit Bumrah vs Shai Hope: Bumrah’s control at the death consistently tested Hope’s composure across formats, the only genuine cross-format duel in this fixture.
- Ravindra Jadeja vs Roston Chase: Both all-rounders led their team’s fightback efforts in different disciplines during the Test series.
- Sanju Samson vs West Indies’ death bowlers: Samson’s acceleration against Matthew Forde and Gudakesh Motie decided the T20 World Cup match.
- Kuldeep Yadav vs West Indies’ middle order: Kuldeep’s spin repeatedly dismantled West Indies’ batting depth throughout the Test series.
What This Tells Us About Both Squads
India’s willingness to field completely different squads and captains for Tests versus T20Is reflects a broader trend toward specialized, format-specific player pools, visible in how little personnel overlap existed between the Ahmedabad Test XI and the Eden Gardens T20 XI. West Indies, by contrast, showed similar format flexibility by switching captains from Roston Chase in Tests to Shai Hope in T20Is, but their squad depth simply couldn’t match India’s in either format.
Going forward, India’s selectors appear committed to this specialization strategy, prioritizing format-specific expertise over squad continuity, a decision that paid off clearly in both the Test sweep and the T20 World Cup elimination win.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. Who captained India in the Test series and the T20 World Cup against West Indies?
Ans. Shubman Gill captained India in the 2025 Test series, while Suryakumar Yadav captained the T20 World Cup 2026 squad against West Indies.
Q2. Who was Player of the Match in the India vs West Indies 2nd Test at Delhi?
Ans. Ravindra Jadeja won Player of the Match for scoring a century and taking four wickets in the same Test, helping India complete a 2-0 series sweep.
Q3. Who was Player of the Match in the India vs West Indies T20 World Cup Super Eight match?
Ans. Sanju Samson was named Player of the Match for his unbeaten 97 off 50 balls, which also set a record for India’s highest successful chase in T20 World Cup history.
Q4. Did any player feature in both the Test series and the T20 World Cup match against West Indies?
Ans. Jasprit Bumrah was the most prominent player to feature in both India squads, playing a central bowling role in the Test series and the T20 World Cup Super Eight match.
Q5. Who captained West Indies across the Test series and the T20 World Cup?
Ans. Roston Chase captained West Indies in the Test series, while Shai Hope led the team in the T20 World Cup 2026 Super Eight match.