The Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) Stadium has only hosted two Test matches so far. The third Test match between India and England is scheduled to begin on Thursday. The two teams played each other in the first of the two Tests, which concluded in a draw in November 2016. In October 2018, India easily defeated the West Indies in the second Test, marking their greatest-ever victory in the series.

For Indian fans, the game will always be remembered for a number of reasons, but most of all for Prithvi Shaw’s incredible debut on the international stage. India batted first and Shaw opened the batting alongside KL Rahul, hitting 134 runs in just 154 balls. At the time of his debut, he was the youngest Indian Test centurion and the second youngest member of the squad to reach 100 Tests since the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. Shaw and Cheteshwar Pujara shared 206 runs for the second wicket, with Shaw scoring 113 runs in 124 balls, while Rahul was dismissed for a duck. Pujara lost to Devendra Bishoo on 86, ending the stand. Shaw fell shortly after, but India continued to inflict suffering on the West Indies.

Captain Virat Kohli hit 139, splitting the points with Ajinkya Rahane for 105 runs and Rishabh Pant for a blistering 133 off just 148 balls, with Pant, predictably, performing the majority of the heavy work in the partnership. After a 64-run partnership that saw Ravindra Jadeja hit 100 runs in 132 balls, Kohli fell out. Declared on 649/9, India.

Then for 181 and 196, the West Indies were completely overwhelmed. In the first innings, Ravichandran Ashwin claimed four wickets in just eleven overs. Kuldeep Yadav then claimed five, while Jadeja claimed three in the second. India defeated the West Indies by an innings and 272 runs, the biggest margin of victory in Test cricket. Shaw was named player of the match, and it was thought to be the beginning of a potentially fantastic career given the reputation he had developed during his time in Mumbai’s young people circuits, the Mumbai first class squad, and leading India to the U19 World Cup championship. Only four more Test matches have he played since then, the last of which was in December 2020. After that, Shaw managed to score two more half-centuries in the remaining eight innings. Despite his outstanding accomplishments in domestic first-class cricket since 2020, the 24-year-old currently seems unlikely to make a comeback to Test cricket or the Indian side in any capacity.