Making history in the Caribbean
Partab Ramchand - 23 April 2002
When the Indian team left for the West Indies in early 1971, the
mood was upbeat, despite the fact that the record in the
Caribbean left much to be desired. For one thing, there was a new
captain in Ajit Wadekar, an appointment that had ended MAK
Pataudi’s long reign. Secondly, the team itself seemed an ideal
blend of youth and experience. Selection committee chairman Vijay
Merchant’s youth policy saw the induction of Sunil Gavaskar, K
Jayantilal, D Govindraj and P Krishnamurthy, while the balance
was provided by the experience of Dilip Sardesai, ML Jaisimha,
Salim Durrani and Erapalli Prasanna, all of whom had been members
of the Indian team on the last tour nine years before.
The Indian supremacy took root early when, in the
first Test at Kingston, they forced the West Indies to follow on
for the first time in 24 encounters between the two countries
dating back to 1948. Indeed, it was for the first time India had
even obtained the first-innings lead over the West Indies.
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There was also a negative factor in the Indians’ favour, with the
West Indian team in the process of rebuilding following the
retirement of several stalwarts. No one, however, was thinking in
terms of winning the series. The general view was that the team
would give a good account of itself along the lines of the first
Indian team’s visit to the Caribbean islands 18 years before,
when the five-match series was lost 0-1.
And yet, when the team returned to Bombay in April, they had
accomplished the impossible. The Indians took the series through
their victory in the second Test at Port of Spain, the remaining
four matches being drawn.
The Indian supremacy took root early when, in the first Test at
Kingston, they forced the West Indies to follow on for the first
time in 24 encounters between the two countries dating back to
1948. Indeed, it was for the first time India had even obtained
the first-innings lead over the West Indies. The shock was
registered, and before they could recover, the home team lost the
second Test by seven wickets.
The West Indies tried their best to come back into the series,
notably in the fourth and fifth Tests, but they were up against
an Indian side that had remarkable resources of resilience. Even
granting that the West Indian team was in the rebuilding process
and that the pitches were on the slower side, it was an
outstanding achievement for an Indian side to pull off the
historic triumph.
One of the heroes was a batsman who was least expected to be in
the forefront. Sardesai was, for some time, the forgotten man of
Indian cricket. But quite unexpectedly, he earned a recall on the
captain’s insistence. In the squad primarily as a reserve
batsman, Sardesai got into the team for the first Test only
because Gundappa Viswanath was injured. Displaying his technique,
temperament and class in no uncertain terms, Sardesai hammered
212 in the first Test the first double century by an Indian
against the West Indies to earn lavish praise from Merchant,
who hailed him as "the Renaissance man of Indian cricket."
Rightly so, for it was this knock that inspired his teammates and
proved that the West Indies, who had hitherto ridden roughshod
over Indian teams, could be beaten.
Sardesai went on to get two more hundreds towards an aggregate of
642 runs at an average of 80.25. But by the end of the series, he
was playing a secondary role to new boy Gavaskar who had emerged
as a record-breaking hero. After missing the first Test through a
finger injury, Gavaskar scored 774 runs at an average of 154.80
the highest ever series aggregate for a debutant in Test history.
He hit four hundreds, including the stupendous double feat of a
century and a double century in the final Test at Port of Spain.
Very early in his career, Gavaskar displayed all the qualities
that remained the hallmark of his batting for the next 16 years
intense concentration, admirable technique, a wide range of
strokes and an insatiable appetite for big scores.
Gavaskar and Sardesai stood out, but there were other heroes too.
How, for example, would India have won the series without the
timely, rocklike contributions from Eknath Solkar? At three vital
stages, he partnered Sardesai in century partnerships that either
rescued India or played a crucial role in the victory at Port of
Spain. And while spin predictably played a significant role in
the Indian triumph, a major surprise was that the wrecker-in-
chief was neither Prasanna nor Bishen Bedi but Srinivas
Venkatraghavan. In and out of the team since his debut in 1965,
Venkat, appointed vice-captain, shouldered the additional
responsibility in exemplary fashion. He took 22 wickets, always
commanded respect and earned the ultimate tribute from Garry
Sobers who hailed him as "a brainy bowler."
Durrani, while woefully out of touch with the bat, proved that he
still had a trick or two up his sleeve with the ball, and his
twin dismissals of Clive Lloyd and Sobers in one over was a major
contribution to India’s victory at Port of Spain.
So well did these players perform that they covered up for the
lack of sizeable contributions with the bat by stalwarts like
Wadekar, Jaisimha and Durrani. The Indians were not even at full
strength for the entire duration of the series. Prasanna was
injured midway through the second Test and had to miss the next
two games. Ashok Mankad, a reliable opening batsman, could play
in only three Tests. But this was a very different Indian side,
full of guts and capable of overcoming any crisis, as they proved
time and again.
It must have been a galling experience for the West Indians to
lose a series to opponents they had always found easy meat in the
past. But the plain truth was that they were just not good
enough. Sobers, Rohan Kanhai and Lloyd were still around, and
they all lived up to their reputation. Sobers hit three hundreds,
Kanhai one, and there were notable contributions from Charlie
Davis and Desmond Lewis.
But the main problem was the bowling. Wes Hall and Charlie
Griffith had recently retired, and the new crop of pace bowlers
was not up to the mark. Lance Gibbs was going through a temporary
eclipse and in fact played in only one Test. The strong batting
could not cover up for the woeful bowling, and a double collapse
at Port of Spain was enough for the Indians to create history.
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