Once upon a time, not too long back, the Caribbean sojourn was the glamour entry in a cricketing calendar. With their exciting, swashbuckling batsmen and their fearsome bowlers backed up by rapturous crowds, it was a tour you could not miss. Some of India’s best moments in their cricketing history came amidst the climes of the Caribbean. As they pick up the guard for another series, starting Thursday in Antigua, a look back at the colourful history of Indian cricket tours to the Caribbean.
Early days
Considering the carnage that would follow, India were extremely resilient in their first ever trip to the Caribbean in 1953. They lost the series 0-1, courtesy a single 142-run loss in the second Test match at Barbados, but came out emboldened, thanks to the efforts of two men. Polly Umrigar and Subhash Gupte were the team’s mainstays, scoring plenty of runs and picking up wickets respectively.
The good form did not continue though. India were whitewashed 0-5 on their next trip to the West Indies in 1962, with the visit being overshadowed by the sickening injury to Nari Contractor, who never played international cricket again. Their next trip proved a little better, but India still remained inconsistent. Thanks to Rohan Kanhai and Clive Lloyd’s batting, West Indies won the series 2-0 in 1966.
The swinging ‘70’s
The 1970’s were heady times for the Indian cricket team. The 1971 tour was historic – it was the series in which Sunil Gavaskar introduced himself to world cricket, scoring 774 runs at an average of 154.80. Thanks to a Srinivas Venkataraghavan special, India won the second Test in Trinidad and held onto the lead to win the series 1-0. Gavaskar’s superhuman form even led to a calypso being composed in his honour.
West Indies would wrest the honours back five years later, but India emerged with their heads held high. They went down cheaply in the first Test at Barbados but fought back strongly in the second at Trinidad, only to be denied by rain as the West Indies escaped with a draw. Then, in the third Test, also at Trinidad, they chased down a world-record 403 to level the series, one of India’s most famous Test wins, either home or abroad.
A smarting West Indies unleashed their barrage of fast bowlers in the last Test and won under questionable circumstances. India’s players were injured and Bishen Singh Bedi famously declared India’s second innings closed at 97/5, allowing West Indies to win the Test and the series 2-1.
Middling times and a shock capitulation
Compared to the highs of the ‘70s, the 1980s and ‘90s marked a return to West Indian dominance. India failed to win a Test in all their matches in the two decades. In 1982, Gavaskar had just been replaced as captain by Kapil Dev, but despite putting up a decent fight, a West Indies side featuring players such as Gordon Greenidge, Viv Richards and Clive Lloyd proved too good in a 2-0 win.
In 1989, it proved far worse. After the first Test was washed out in two days, a four-pronged pace attack of Malcolm Marshall, Curtly Ambrose, Ian Bishop and Courtney Walsh struck fear into Indian hearts, repeatedly bundling them out as West Indies cruised to a 3-0 win.
India got their closest to winning a Test in these two decades in 1997. In a boring five-match series where four Tests were drawn, a five-wicket haul from newcomer Abey Kuruvilla had West Indies dismissed for only 140 in their second innings of the third test, leaving India only 120 to win the match. But those at home watching eagerly in the prospect of a famous Indian triumph were stunned by what they saw – a horrific capitulation to 81 all out, still painfully remembered as one of India’s most humiliating losses.
Trinidad and beyond
The dawn of the new millennium marked a confident new era for Indian cricket. Under their fiery new captain Sourav Ganguly, India went to the West Indies again in 2002. They finally managed to win a match after emerging on the right end of an exciting second Test in Trinidad, but were brought crashing down to reality after being bowled out for 102 on a juicy Barbados pitch in the third Test and losing it.
The fourth Test saw a boring draw, only made memorable by now head coach Anil Kumble’s courageous act of bowling with a broken jaw. The West Indies did enough to wrap up the fifth Test to condemn India to another series defeat on Caribbean soil.
That jinx was ultimately broken in an enthralling series in 2006. India dominated the first two Tests of the series, but could not force a victory. The West Indies turned the tables in the third Test and India were forced to dig deep for a draw. But it was Rahul Dravid’s individual genius that finally settled it – in one of his best displays of perseverance and on a very difficult surface, Dravid scored 81 in India’s first innings score of 200 and 68 in their second innings of 171. It would prove to be the difference as West Indies fell 49 runs short chasing 269, giving India a famous 1-0 series win.
Erring on the side of conservatism
A strange tour in 2011. A Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led India were firm favourites and they dominated the serious without much trouble. But the score-line did not reflect that. After a comfortable win in the first Test and a draw in the second, India could have easily won the series 2-0, but strangely decided to call off their chase of 180 when they just needed 86 off 90 balls. Then coach Duncan Fletcher came in for much criticism for the perceived lack of a killer instinct.