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India and the West Indies have an eloquent history of cricketing encounters against each other, and the "Utsav Zone" celebrates just that. Moments of glory, performances to cherish, matches to remember for a lifetime - we pick them out from the 70 Tests and 66 one-dayers these two teams have fought over. Packaged together, the "Utsav Zone" presents you genuine cause to celebrate the sport's rich and hoary past.
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The luck of the draw
If it was Brian Charles Lara this time around, it was Ajit Laxman
Wadekar 31 years ago. April 1, the day the penultimate India-West
Indies Test of the 1971 series began at the Kensington Oval,
Barbados, was the Indian skipper’s birthday. Coming into the
Test, his team held a 1-0 lead over the home team.
The match at the Kensington Oval, a ground that had always
favoured the home team, represented the West Indies’ best chance
of leveling the series. The tour match preceding the Test had
seen a Barbados side led by West Indies skipper Garry Sobers
register a convincing nine-wicket win over the Indians. Sobers
himself had made a welcome return to form, scoring a match-
winning ton.
On the appointed day, Wadekar won what he believed was a crucial
toss. But after opener Roy Fredricks fell for just one, it was
the West Indies all the way. Sobers, playing on his home ground,
was in supreme form, carving a magnificent unbeaten 178 as the
home team declared after making a monumental 501 for five in 171
overs.
© CricInfo |
The Indian reply got off to a controversial start; Sunil
Gavaskar, who made a debut hundred in the previous match, was
dismissed for one in poor light after the umpires refused to call
off play, despite an appeal from his opening partner, Ashok
Mankad. The next day saw India sink deeper into the mire as five
more wickets fell, leaving them tottering at 70 for six.
Their fading hopes rested on Dilip Sardesai, who had already made
a double-hundred and hundred in the series. On his arrival at the
Bridgetown airport, Sardesai, when asked if he had anything to
declare, replied, with a broad smile playing on his lips: “I have
come here with runs, and I am going to leave Barbados with more
runs.”
He proceeded to fulfill that promise. Batting with fellow-
Mumbaikar Eknath Solkar, Sardesai retrieved the situation for his
team. An exquisite cover-drive off Sobers saw him raise his third
century of the series.
The duo had added 186 when Solkar (65) became debutant quick Utoz
Dowe’s fourth victim in the innings. Abid Ali and Srinivas
Venkataraghavan too followed soon after, with India at 285 for
nine needing another 17 runs to avoid the follow-on.
Fortunately, Bishan Bedi, not at his best as a batsman, rode his
luck and helped Sardesai add a record 62 runs for the last
wicket. When the Indian innings ended on 347, Sardesai, soon to
be called the ‘Renaissance man of Indian cricket’, had made a
glorious unbeaten 150.
© CricInfo |
The West Indies, pressing for a win, rattled up 180 for six in 43
overs, before Sobers declared his team’s second innings closed.
This left India 335 to get in a little over five hours on the
final day. Victory was almost impossible for the tourists, and
they needed to grind out a draw.
Their resolve was tested rather early; Mankad fractured his right
wrist while trying to fend off a snorter from Dowe. But he hung
on gamely, batting one-handed for the best part of an hour.
At the other end, Gavaskar displayed the grit and concentration
that were to make him a legend in the coming years. The 21-year-
old’s second hundred of the series, a patient 117 not out, was
the cornerstone around which the successful Indian defence was
built. When play was called off, India had made 221 for five off
103 overs.
Most importantly, they had drawn a Test at Kensington Oval for
the first time and ensured that they wouldn’t lose the series.
The final Test at Port of Spain was to be dominated by Gavaskar,
whose double hundred and hundred in the two Indian innings was to
earn his team a famous draw and an epoch-making series win.
© CricInfo
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