IND vs WI | Twitter in awe as Hope joins Babar, falling prey to Kuldeep’s wiliness

‌West Indies were in all sorts of trouble after captain Roston Chase opted to bat against India at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday. The pace duo of Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah started well as they sent back both the visitors’ openers within the seventh over.

Siraj picked up two more wickets during his extended opening spell to reduce the Windies to 42/4 in the first hour of play. However, Chase and Shai Hope were not ready to give up without a fight as they slowly tried to provide the much-needed stability after the horrible start.

The pair scored six boundaries between them and had added 39 runs for the fifth wicket when captain Shubman Gill introduced Kuldeep Yadav into the mix. The West Indies captain was positive as he reverse-swept the wrist spinner for a boundary in the last ball of his first over.

But Gil’s move worked wonders as the Delhi Capitals’ spinner lured Shai Hope into trouble with a classic delivery. With the duo looking settled and set to go into lunch without another dismissal, Kuldeep came in from around the wicket to bowl a flighted delivery that pitched on a good length outside off stump.

Hope’s eyes lit up as he tried to reach the ball from an open stance but his foot was far away from the pitch of the ball. Still, he went on with the full-blooded drive through covers as the ball went through his gate. The ball spun a lot and went on to hit the middle stump as Hope realised his folly. Chase was frustrated as Hope’s mad rush put the Windies at 90/5 at lunch.

Twitter was in awe of Kuldeep’s knack of going through the defences of batters, with Hope being the latest victim.

What a delivery!

Welcome back to Test cricket, ! 💙



His first Test since October 2024 & Kuldeep cleans up Shai Hope just before Lunch! ☝



🍽 LUNCH | WI 90/5 (23.2)



Catch the LIVE action ➡   1st Test, Day 1 👉 LIVE NOW on Star Sports & JioHotstar 

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) 

Very hard

Kuldeep is hard to read in the flight and off the pitch. Makes him more effective than a finger spinner when the ball isn't turning as much.

— cricketingview (@cricketingview) 

LOL

Ek baar aur so ke uth gaya, and WI still batting. Team India's downfall is real 💔

— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) 

Peach

Absolute peach of delivery from Kuldeep Yadav to dismiss Shai Hope. Superbly setup and hope stands there bewildered. 

— JJ (@JJhuMaybe) 

Unlucky

Kuldeep Yadav can count himself unlucky he's played just 14 Tests so far. 

— CricBlog ✍ (@cric_blog) 

Peach

A PEACH BY KULDEEP YADAV, CLEAN UP SHAI HOPE.🥶

— MANU. (@IMManu_18) 

Rare

If Kuldeep Yadav had played the 2nd and 3rd Tests against New Zealand last year, India would have won the series 2-1. We rarely see spinners who can actually turn the ball in any conditions and Kuldeep Yadav is one of them. 

— Srijan (@LegendDhonii) 

Havoc

Kuldeep Yadav will create havoc this home season in test cricket.



Guaranteed🎩🪄 

— कट्टर INDIA समर्थक 🦁🇮🇳 ™ (@KKRWeRule) 

6 in a row

Shubman Gill has now lost 6 tosses on the trot as Test captain!



- Kuldeep is playing

- Nitish Kumar is playing

- Bumrah is playing

— GillTheWill (@GillTheWill77) 

Nice

Kuldeep in the Test XI 

— Srini R (@SriniR_2025)