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Gill wins first series as India captain with 2-0 West Indies sweep

Published

2 weeks ago

October 14, 2025

Shubman Gill on Tuesday won his first Test series since becoming India captain as his side beat the West Indies by seven wickets at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium for a 2-0 sweep.

Chasing 121 for victory in the second Test, India resumed on day five at 63-1 and reached their target in the first session with KL Rahul unbeaten on 58.

West Indies captain Roston Chase struck twice with his off-spin to send back
Sai Sudharsan for 39 and Gill, who made 13.

Rahul hit the winning four as India reached 124-3 after a spirited fightback from the West Indies, who made 390 in their second innings with centuries from John Campbell and Shai Hope after being forced to follow on.

India are a team in transition under 26-year-old Gill, after the retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

They won the opening Test by an innings and 140 runs after a thrilling 2-2 draw in their five-Test series in England from June to August, Gill’s first in charge.

“It’s a really big honour and I would say I’m getting used to it,” Gill said at the post-match presentation.

“Managing all the players and leading this team is a great honour.”

India head coach Gautam Gambhir said the young leader was marching on after having passed his “toughest test as a Test captain” in England.

“No one has done him a favour by appointing him the Test and one-day captain,” the former batsman told reporters.

“I think he deserves every bit of it. I think he’s worked hard, and he ticks all the boxes.”

Gill has been in the form of his life after being named Test captain in May, scoring 754 runs in the five England Tests and then a half-century and a hundred in the two West Indies matches.

West Indies hope

India’s left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav’s match haul of eight wickets, including 5-82 in the first West Indies innings, earned him the player of the match accolade.

Kuldeep claimed 12 wickets in the series and pace bowler Mohammed Siraj took 10 to be India’s leading wicket-taker this year with 37 wickets in eight matches.

India’s batsmen set up the victory as Yashasvi Jaiswal top-scored with 175 in India’s mammoth first-innings total of 518-5 declared. Gill made an unbeaten 129.

The West Indies have endured years of decline and, despite the late fight shown in Delhi, suffered their second successive Test sweep after a 3-0 home series defeat to Australia.

There were some positives to take from the series.

Left-handed opener Campbell made 115 and Hope 103 in a 177-run stand for the third wicket on Monday as India’s bowlers tired on a slow pitch offering little help.

“It’s just for us to use this last Test match as a stepping stone and a confidence booster going into the upcoming series,” Chase said of West Indies’ next tour, to New Zealand in November.

“We just have to keep improving as much as we can from here.” India enforced the follow-on after they bowled out the West Indies for 248, a deficit of 270 from the hosts’ first innings.

The visitors sprung into life in their second innings through Campbell and Hope, with Justin Greaves and Jayden Seales also offering tail-end resistance.

Greaves with an unbeaten 50 and Seales, 32, put on 79 runs for the final wicket to frustrate India and force play into the fifth day.

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Babar Azam picked as Fakhar Zaman’s replacement for South Africa T20Is, says Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson

Published

4 hours ago

October 26, 2025

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After staying out of favour in the Twenty20 International format for Pakistan’s last five assignments, former skipper Babar Azam was picked for the upcoming three-match series against South Africa only after Fakhar Zaman’s decided to skip it, white-ball head coach Mike Hesson said on Sunday.

Since Hesson took over the role in June, Babar hasn’t featured for Pakistan in T20Is with the national side playing series against Bangladesh, the West Indies and a tri-nation series followed by the Asia Cup during that period.

Hesson had cited the right-hander’s low strike-rate as the reason for his absence. But Babar’s selection for the series, which starts in Rawalpindi on Tuesday raised suggested a change of mind for the coach before the New Zealander clarified it.

“I certainly endorse his selection,” Hesson said of Babar while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of Pakistan’s training session at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. “We’ve sent him (Fakhar) back to first-class cricket after a conversation with him.

“He wanted to focus on improving his technique for one-day cricket, so we gave him a bit of a break from T20s. That’s created an opportunity for another top-order player.”

Hesson confirmed that Babar will take the number three spot instead of the batter’s preferred opening position, where he flourished for Pakistan for a substantial period before eventually falling in form and then out of favour.

The coach, however, has expectations from Babar to make a strong comeback and suggested he saw him in Pakistan’s plans for the T20 World Cup, which is set to be held in February-March next year in India and Sri Lanka.

“It’s a great chance to have Babar back,” said the coach. “He’s likely to bat at number three, a role I’m confident he’ll perform well in.

“It also gives our squad some flexibility ahead of the [T20] World Cup.”

‘Haris needs to work’

Babar’s unexpected return also coincided with the axing of wicket-keeper-batter Mohammad Haris from the Pakistan squad even after he received ample backing from the team management across Hesson’s tenure so far.

The 24-year-old proved his mettle with a century against Bangladesh back in June but gradually lost form amid frequent change of batting positions.

Hesson believed Haris needed to go back to the drawing board to fix his issues.

“Haris has had a number of opportunities recently, and he’d be the first to admit he hasn’t made the most of them,” he said. “But he’s still young and developing, so I wouldn’t say his career is over.

“He needs to work on his decision-making with the bat. Even in domestic T20s, he averages around 17, similar to international cricket, so that’s an area for improvement.”

Haris has been replaced by Usman Khan — who last year gave up on a career in the United Arab Emirates to play for Pakistan before being eventually dropped. He emerged out of nowhere and Hesson said he sees the right-hander, who keeps wickets as well, as a good player of spin.

“We see our wicket-keeper batting more through the middle rather than at the top, especially with spin being such a big factor in Sri Lanka during the World Cup. That’s why Usman has been given this opportunity.”

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FIFA announces new ASEAN Cup for Southeast Asia

Published

6 hours ago

October 26, 2025

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A new tournament, the FIFA ASEAN Cup, will be launched as part of an agreement between FIFA and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), aimed at boosting the development of football across the region.

The announcement was made during the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, where FIFA President Gianni Infantino and ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn signed a renewed Memorandum of Understanding.

The tournament will bring together national teams from all ASEAN member states in a format inspired by the Arab Cup, which was first organised by FIFA in 2021.

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“This will be a great addition to the regional football calendar,” Infantino said.

“Through the FIFA ASEAN Cup, we are uniting countries together, and this competition will be a huge success as it will help boost national team football in the ASEAN region and support the development of our sport across all of Southeast Asia.”

World football’s governing body will work with regional stakeholders including the Asian Football Confederation, the ASEAN Football Federation, and the relevant FIFA member associations to finalise the tournament’s format.

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