Making history in the Caribbean

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.

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 firstinnings 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.