An A to Z look at a special rivalry involving top performers, feats and fans as India and WI play their 100th Test in Trinidad today
Cricket fans watch India and WI battle it out in the 2002 Jamaica Test. Pic/AFP
A for Ajit. It was Wadekar who led India to its first Test series win in the WI through the second Test win at Trinidad in 1971. In fact, India had never won a Test against WI before.
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B for Borde. He scored 109 in the first innings of the 1958-59 Delhi Test and just when Chandu thought he had reached his second century of the match, he disturbed his stumps while playing a shot and was out hit wicket for 96. Borde also scored two hundreds in the 1966-67 series.
C for Calcutta. Riots caused over ticket sales headlined the Test here in 1966-67 and one day’s play was lost. Yet, the WI found the time to win and go two-up in the series.
D for Durani, whose dismissals of Garfield Sobers and Clive Lloyd played a part in the Trinidad Test victory of 1971. The great Sobers in his autobiography said Salimbhai was a “much underrated.”
E for Engineer, who nearly smashed a hundred before lunch. Farokh blazed away to 94 in the 1966-67 Chennai Test. He developed cramps and completed his century in the post-lunch session.
F for Fredericks. Clive Lloyd may have got the accolades for his 242 in the Wankhede Test of 1974-75, but Roy’s 104 shouldn’t be forgotten. His 100 in the Kolkata Test of the same series went in vain.
G for Gavaskar. Will there be another batsman who can boast of taking 13 Test hundreds off the WI? Probably not. And calypsonian Lord Relator was right—“Gavaskar, the real master.” His 774 runs in a debut series has yet to be bettered.
H for Holding. To say Mikey was at his dangerous best at Kingston in 1976 would be an understatement. He claimed seven in the game and would have had more scalps had five Indians batted in the second innings.
I for Ishant. His 10 for 108 could well have been a match-winning effort at Bridgetown in 2011, but the WI hung on to a draw; the Test ending with WI scoring 202-7, chasing 281.
J for Jasprit. He has played only two Tests against the WI and had fifers in both—Antigua and Kingston in 2019. Bumrah played a role in both of those victories. He had amazing figures of five for seven in Antigua.
K for Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, where India succumbed to 81 all out, failing to score 120 for victory. No wonder skipper Sachin Tendulkar was inconsolable after the Test.
L for Lloyd. Super Cat as he is called, made Wankhede Stadium’s inaugural Test in 1975 memorable with an epic, series-winning 242 not out
M for Marshall. The pace tormentor could also bat and that’s what he did at the Kanpur Test in 1983 with his 92 as West Indies totalled 454. That was before he destroyed India with eight wickets in the Test.
N for Noreiga. Off-spinner Jack’s 9-95 went in vain as India stunned the West Indies by beating them in the second Test at Trinidad in 1971.
O for Operation. That’s what Nari Contractor had to undergo after he was hit on the head by Charlie Griffith in the Barbados v Indians game that took place in between the Kingston and Barbados Tests of the 1961-62 series.
P for Pataudi. The Nawab was recalled as captain to take on the West Indies in 1974 and his leadership played a huge role in the hosts roaring back in the series after being two Tests down. Sadly for India, they lost the deciding fifth Test.
Q for Queen’s Park Oval. India’s three wins here in 1971, 1976 and 2002 are nothing short of significant in the annals of India v WI cricket.
R for Ravichandran. No spin bowler in recent years has tormented the WI like Ashwin has. Seventy-two wickets in 12 Tests is testimony to the kind of damage he has caused.
S for Sardesai. No story on India’s 1971 victory can be told without the mention of Dilip’s 642 runs. That 212 in the opening Test at Kingston was priceless, followed by 112 at Trinidad and 150 in Barbados.
T for Tendulkar. For five years, Sachin’s 179 v WI at Nagpur in 1994 remained his highest score in Tests until his double hundred against NZ at Ahmedabad in 1999. He faced the quality Windies pacers among whom Curtly Ambrose figured and the Antiguan ended his Test career without dismissing Tendulkar.
U for Umrigar. The pundits said he was suspect against pace bowling at one stage and it hurt him. Want to know how many runs he scored on the 1961-62 tour of the WI? An impressive 445 in five Tests with 172 not out as his best in Trinidad.
V for Vijay. India’s first captain on a Test tour to the Caribbean. Hazare’s 1952-53 tourists gave a good account of themselves, allowing the hosts to win only one of the five Tests for a 1-0 result.
W for Weekes. He enjoyed an amazing run sequence in the first four Tests on the 1948-49 tour of India: 128, 194, 162, 101 and 90. Sir Everton ended up with 779 runs, averaging 111.29 in the five-match series.
X for X-ray. Indian players over the years have had plenty of them, after being hit by WI fast bowlers. Sabina Park, Kingston 1976 was brutal and no kudos for the courage displayed can be enough.
Y for Yelling. A few years ago, Sunil Gavaskar revealed how a fan in the stands yelled out as Eknath Solkar was about take a catch on the 1971 tour: “Solkaar! Solkaar! If you drop that, you can have my sista [sister].” Of course, Solkar didn’t drop it.
Z for Zenith. WI were at this stage when they had four quality fast bowlers at the throats of batsmen.
mid-day’s group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance. He tweets @ClaytonMurzello
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The views expressed in this column are the individual’s and don’t represent those of the paper
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