Gambhir to host Team India for dinner at his residence ahead of Delhi Test: Source

NEW DELHI: India head coach Gautam Gambhir will host the Men in Blue for dinner at his residence on Wednesday ahead of his side’s second Test against West Indies at New Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium starting from October 10 onwards, as per sources.

Sources also said that Gambhir wants the dinner to be an open-air one in garden area but if rain hits the city, it would be cancelled.

India is 1-0 up in the two-match series, having beaten WI by an innings and 140 runs in the first Test at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium, with Ravindra Jadeja (104* and a four-wicket haul) earning the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his all-round show.

Coming to the match, it was the West Indies who won the toss and elected to bat first. Except for a 48-run fourth-wicket stand between skipper Roston Chase (24 in 43 balls, with four boundaries) and skipper Hope (26 in 36 balls, with three fours) and a knock of 32 in 73 balls (with four boundaries by Greaves, there was very little resistance by WI as they were skittled out for 162 by 44.1 overs.

Mohammed Siraj (4/40) and Jasprit Bumrah (3/42) thrived on what was a superb wicket for them, while Kuldeep Yadav (2/25) and Sundar (1/9) were also among the wickets with their spin.

During India’s first innings, they gained a massive lead of 286 runs as KL Rahul (100 in 197 balls, with 12 fours), Dhruv Jurel (125 in 210 balls, with 15 fours and three sixes) and Jadeja (104* in 176 balls, with six fours and five sixes) scored centuries. India posted 448/5 and declared.

The visitors did not look remotely threatening during their second innings, as Alick Athanaze (38 in 74 balls, with three fours) and Justin Greaves (25 in 52 balls, with four boundaries) were top-two scorers. India bundled them out for 146 runs, with Jadeja (4/54), Siraj (3/31) and Kuldeep (2/23) being the top wicket-takers.

The two-time ICC World Test Championship (WTC) finalists are third in the WTC table with three wins, a draw and two losses. (ANI)