Unforgettable India-West Indies Test match encounters

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  • Remembering some of the best Test matches between India and the Windies

    India have been involved in plenty of limited-overs internationals in 2016, and now it is time to turn their collective attention back to the arena of Test cricket. The four Tests on India’s tour of the Caribbean are their first of the year, and they are set to join some distinguished company.

    Test matches between the two sides have produced some dramatic and thrilling contests over the years that have put their respective supporters through all kinds of different emotions.

    There have been improbable chases, gritty defences and shocking collapses. There has been scorching pace, devilish spin and breathtaking batting. India versus West Indies has produced some of the most unforgettable Test matches in history.

    Here are three of the best:

    SECOND TEST, PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD, 6-10 MARCH 1971

    This was India’s first Test victory against the West Indies following 24 unsuccessful attempts. A case of twenty-fifth time lucky, as it were.

    Garry Sobers won the toss and chose to bat first. For the home side, only Charlie Davis with an unbeaten 71 gave real substance to a first innings total of 214. The Indian reply was built around a century from Dilip Sardesai, while there were fifties for Eknath Solkar and debutant Sunil Gavaskar.

    There was a freak accident involving Davis, meaning it was Clive Lloyd who had to join opener Roy Fredericks on the fourth morning. Davis eventually returned, striking an unbeaten 74, but the West Indians had been shaken. They fell from 150/1 to 261 all out, leaving India 124 runs to chase.

    It only lasted half a day. Gavaskar remained unbeaten on 67, and his stand with Abid Ali (21) wiped out the final 40 runs India needed for victory. It was a historic win.

    THIRD TEST, BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS, 27-31 MARCH 1997

    It was a match that became, and remains, infamous for India’s utterly shocking implosion in pursuit of 120 runs for victory. The only Test of a five-match series that produced a result, the encounter reinforced Bridgetown’s special venom for visiting teams.

    With Courteney Walsh unfit, batting maestro Brian Lara led the West Indies for the first time. He was put in to bat by opposing number Sachin Tendulkar, and Shivnarine Chanderpaul dominated the home side’s total of 298 with a 284-ball 137. India gained a slender first innings lead – 21 runs – and then the pacers hit back with fury.

    West Indies were dismissed for 140, and it was only a last-wicket stand worth 33 between Curtly Ambrose and Mervyn Dillon that lifted the target to 120 for the Indians. And then, due to a combination of a volatile pitch and shambolic batting, mayhem followed. The visitors crashed to an execrable 81 all out as the seamers ran riot. Not one Indian batsman, barring VVS Laxman, reached double figures.

    SECOND TEST, PORT-OF-SPAIN, TRINIDAD, 19-23 APRIL 2002

    It was only India’s third ever win in the Caribbean, in cricketing relations that went back over 50 years, and their first since 1976. The previous two tours had been miserable, but Sourav Ganguly’s men were a rapidly improving side and took the lead in the series at Trinidad.

    Put in to bat, India ran up 339, thanks to a gritty hundred from Sachin Tendulkar and half-centuries for Laxman and Rahul Dravid. The bowlers then pegged the home side back to 94 runs behind India’s score. The visitors found it tougher in their second innings, and a fifth wicket partnership between Ganguly (75 not out) and Laxman (74) worth 149 was the only highlight. It gave the West Indies a target of 313 to chase.

    The hosts managed to defy their spirited visitors for 549 nail-biting minutes. Shivnarine Chanderpaul remained defiant and unbeaten to the bitter end, but Zaheer Khan finally removed the last man Cameron Cuffy with the West Indies 37 runs shy of India’s lead. Captain Ganguly descended to kiss the turf in his jubilation.

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