A royal record at the Queen's Park Oval

There was never any doubt that the Queen's Park Oval at Port of Spain was India's favourite venue abroad. But it received statistical confirmation on Tuesday when India notched up their third victory at the stadium. Before that, the picturesque ground shared the numerical honour with Melbourne and Auckland, where Indian teams have scored two victories each.

Principally, Tuesday's victory loses out to the first victory from the historical angle. For sheer enormity of achievement and rarity of feat, it cannot hold a candle to the 1976 triumph. The opposition too was fairly strong in 1971 and much stronger five years later.

Indian victories overseas are so rare that it is easy to get excited about the latest triumph. After all, this was just the 17th win abroad in 166 matches, as compared to 54 victories in 187 home Tests. But then again, this was only India's third win in 35 matches in the West Indies dating back to 1953; interestingly enough, all three have been registered at the same venue. Notable and welcome as the recent win is, for various reasons it cannot be compared to those notched up in 1971 and 1976.

What makes a victory special? One presumes there are many factors that have to be considered before terming a triumph as truly great or significant. The opposition is one, alien wickets and weather conditions are others. Then comes the odds against which the victory is achieved. One must also not lose sight of the historic aspect too. If it is the kind of victory that is only rarely achieved in Test cricket, then this becomes a very important factor in analysing its greatness.

Principally, Tuesday's victory loses out to the first victory from the historical angle. For sheer enormity of achievement and rarity of feat, it cannot hold a candle to the 1976 triumph. The opposition too was fairly strong in 1971 and much stronger five years later.

However spasmodic Indian victories abroad are these days, the fact remains that India have, over the past 34 years, registered wins in New Zealand, West Indies, England, Australia, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Pakistan and South Africa are the only nations in which India have drawn a blank even after playing 20 and nine Tests respectively. India have also notched up series triumphs in New Zealand, West Indies, Sri Lanka and England (twice).

But in March 1971, the scenario was very different. By then India had played 47 Tests abroad and had won only three ­ all against New Zealand in 1967-68, a series the visitors won by three matches to one. Such was New Zealand's weakness at that time, however, that the analysts questioned that one loss more than the three victories! In 11 Tests in the West Indies, India had lost six and drawn five. In nine Tests in Australia, India had lost eight and drawn one. In 19 Tests in England, India had lost 15 and drawn four. The one series in Pakistan in 1954-55 had seen all five Tests ending in draws.

The victory at the Queen's Park Oval on March 10 1971 must therefore be viewed against this backdrop. Admittedly the West Indies were then in the rebuilding process. The retirement of several stalwarts had weakened the side, but Garry Sobers, Rohan Kanhai and Clive Lloyd were still around.

Unlike the present series, when India have generally been seen as favourites, the visitors were clearly the underdogs when the 1971 series started. Coincidentally, that too was the second Test of the series, the first ending in a rain-affected draw. The Indian new-ball attack was, at the time, just about the biggest joke in cricketing circles worldwide. And yet the much-maligned opening bowlers took minimum time to strike. Abid Ali bowled Roy Fredericks with the first ball of the match, and from that moment on, the West Indies, already reeling under the shock registered when India enforced the follow-on for the first time in 24 Tests between the two countries at Kingston, were on the back foot.

Dismissing the home team for 214 on the opening day, India took a stranglehold by replying with 352, thanks in the main to Dilip Sardesai's 112 and valuable contributions from debutant Sunil Gavaskar (65), Ashok Mankad (44) and Eknath Solkar (55). In the second innings, the Indian attack was not even at full strength, with Erapalli Prasanna being injured. But Srinivas Venkataraghavan rose to the occasion with a five-wicket haul, and with that wayward genius Salim Durrani chipping in with the wickets of Lloyd and Sobers in successive overs, West Indies collapsed from 150 for one to 261, leaving India the simple task of getting 124 for victory.

This was duly achieved, for the loss of three wickets on the evening of the fourth day, and Gavaskar capped a memorable debut by hitting the winning boundary in an unbeaten 67. India, thus, won a Test in the 25th encounter between the two countries.

Five years later, the scenario was very different. For one thing, the Indians, having registered rubber triumphs in the West Indies and England in 1971, were no strangers to victories abroad. Secondly, the Indian team of the 70s was made of sterner stuff than their predecessors of the 50s and 60s.

Against this, the West Indies had completed their rebuilding process and had built a formidable side comprising powerful stroke-makers and a fearsome pace quartet. The visitors came to Port of Spain for the third Test of the series one down and, midway through the fourth day, the series had virtually been lost. After the West Indies had dominated all through, Lloyd declared, setting India a target of 403 in about nine hours.

It was a preposterous target. In nearly 800 Tests, only one team - Don Bradman's all-conquering Australian side against England at Leeds in 1948 - had scored over 400 runs to win a match. And yet, planning their strategy "with the perfection of a cricketing Lester Piggott," as Tony Cozier wrote at the time, India pulled off one of Test cricket's most remarkable victories, reaching their seemingly insurmountable target with seven of the 20 mandatory overs to spare. Their total of 406 for four remains, even today, over 800 Test matches later, the highest in the fourth innings to win a Test match.

Gavaskar and Anshuman Gaekwad, then being tried out as a makeshift opening batsman, put on 69 runs, and this was followed by a second-wicket partnership of 108 runs between Gavaskar and Mohinder Amarnath, a makeshift number three.

After Gavaskar was out for 102, Amarnath and Gundappa Viswanath inched India closer to the target with a third-wicket stand of 159 runs before the latter was out for 112. Amarnath, who played the sheet-anchor role to perfection, was fourth out at 392, batting 442 minutes for 85. Brijesh Patel brought the match to a swift and stunning conclusion with a series of enthralling strokes and finished on 49 not out. Interestingly, four players - Gavaskar, Solkar, Venkatraghavan and Bishan Singh Bedi - had also been members of the victorious 1971 team.

As I said, notable as Tuesday's victory was, for reasons already explained it cannot be compared to the two earlier wins at Indian cricket's favourite venue abroad. However, I would like to end on an encouraging, even intriguing note. In 1971, the Indian victory came about in the second Test of the series, and the visitors went on to take the series. Can we expect an encore from Ganguly's men?