5 Indian Test wins in West Indies

Team India has landed in West Indies for the tour and we are just a couple weeks away from the series opener. The Indian squad prepared diversely in the training camp organized by coach Anil Kumble at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.

The four-Test series starts from the 21st of July and will conclude after seven weeks on 22nd of August. The Indian team has managed to win just 5 Test matches in 45 attempts from 1953 when they first toured the West Indies. Indians have always struggled outside the country and the record in this country is no different.

Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli will be eager to win the series and initiate the change in trends. No Indian captain has won more than one Test match in West Indies. Ajit Wadekar, Bishan Singh Bedi, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and MS Dhoni are the five captains to have won Test matches in West Indies. Here we take a look at the 5 Indian Test wins in West Indies:

1. India beat West Indies by 7 wickets, Port of Spain, 1971:

This has to go down as one of the most important Test matches in Indian cricket history. This Test not only marked the debut of Sunil Gavaskar, this match is also famous for India’s first win in the Caribbean.

West Indies in their golden era was a team no opponent wanted to face. Although India was a very strong team at home, it always failed overseas. Winning the toss, the hosts opted to bat first and were bowled out for 214. West Indies batting failed miserably barring Charlie Davis who remained not out at 71. EAS Prasanna ended up picking 4 wickets while Bishan Singh Bedi and Syed Abid Ali played the supporting roles.

The Indians got a chance to bat earlier than they expected and made full use of the chance. Dilip Sardesai with his 112 was the top scorer, while Jack Noreiga picked up 9 wickets for 95. West Indies got all out for 261 after failing to use the start they had, thanks to Venkataraghavan who led the bowling attack picking a 5-wicket haul. With a tricky target of 124, Indians won the match comfortably with 7 wickets to spare. Sunil Gavaskar scored 67 not out in the second innings bettering his score of 65 in the first innings which helped India to the first victory against West Indies overall under Ajit Wadekar.

Also read – 5 Indian players to watch out for on West Indies tour