Shubman Gill praises Kuldeep Yadav's match-winning spell against West Indies

India defeated West Indies by eight wickets in the first ODI at Thiruvananthapuram on September 27, 2026, with left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav playing the decisive role in restricting the visitors. West Indies elected to bat and built a strong opening partnership of 135 runs, but Kuldeep's four-wicket haul for 40 runs in 10 overs dismantled their innings and earned him the Player of the Match award. India's chase was completed with 50 balls remaining, with captain Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli combining for a 151-run partnership that sealed the victory.

Kuldeep's performance proved instrumental in turning the match after West Indies had established momentum through their opening stand. The spinner took four of the first five wickets to fall, engineering a collapse of 4 for 22 from 176 for 1.

After Justin Greaves completed his maiden ODI century with 101 runs off 108 balls, Kuldeep dismissed him immediately and struck with the very next delivery to send back Jewel Andrew for a duck. His key scalps also included John Campbell and Shai Hope.

Gill on Kuldeep's role as a middle-overs wicket-taker

Kuldeep Yadav played a key role in India’s eight-wicket win over West Indies, particularly after the visitors got off to a strong start with the bat. The spinner broke the momentum of the West Indies top order with crucial wickets in the middle overs and helped India pull things back after they appeared set for a much bigger total.

Gill highlighted Kuldeep’s ability to provide breakthroughs during the middle overs and credited him for bringing India back into the contest when the West Indies were in a strong position.

"Someone like him, especially in the middle overs, if he's bowling well, he's a wicket-taker for us and he's proved over again and again, and today as well," Gill was quoted as saying by Outlook.

The India captain admitted that the hosts were under pressure during the opening partnership but felt Kuldeep’s spell changed the momentum of the innings. He also pointed out how India managed to restrict West Indies to 300 after it looked like they could post a total of 340-350.

"We were a bit on the back foot, with their opening partnership and how their top order was batting, but he got us back in the game, got us crucial wickets in the game, and at one point it looked like maybe they'll get 340-350, but from there to restrict them to 300 was a tremendous effort from us," Gill said.

Kuldeep, meanwhile, was pleased with his rhythm and spoke about how he focused on varying his pace and reading the batters during his spell.

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"I liked my rhythm, to be very honest. I was very calm in my rhythm and just trying to bowl whatever I felt like bowling, just varying the pace, variations were superb, just reading the batters, where they're going to hit me," Kuldeep said.

Despite West Indies being restricted to 300, captain Shai Hope felt his side left runs on the board. He believed the visitors were around 60 to 80 runs short of what would have been a competitive total on a good batting surface in India.

"We could definitely put more runs on the board. When you come in on surfaces such as good surfaces here in India, you got to make sure you put a good score on the board. (We were) maybe 60 to 80 runs short, to be fair," Hope said.

Gill's unbeaten 110 and Kohli's aggressive 139 from 88 balls ensured India's chase was completed without significant resistance. The partnership between the two batsmen removed almost every realistic route West Indies had back into the match, and India reached 300 for 2 to secure victory with 50 balls to spare.