Indian cricket team in the West Indies in 1970–71

The India national cricket team toured the West Indies during the 1970–71 cricket season. They played five Test matches against the West Indian cricket team, with India winning the series 1–0.

Indian cricket team in West Indies in 1971
Date5 February – 19 April 1971
LocationCricket West Indies West Indies
ResultIndia won the 5-Test series 1–0
Teams
 West Indies  India
Captains
Garry Sobers Ajit Wadekar
Most runs
Garry Sobers (597)
Charlie Davis (529)
Rohan Kanhai (433)
Sunil Gavaskar (774)
Dilip Sardesai (642)
Eknath Solkar (224)
Most wickets
Jack Noreiga (17)
Garry Sobers (12)
John Shepherd (7)
S. Venkataraghavan (22)
Bishan Singh Bedi (15)
Erapalli Prasanna (11)

The series can be deemed a landmark in Indian cricket in many ways. This was India's first ever test victory and test series victory over the West Indies. It was also their first victory in West Indies. The series marked the international debut for the batting maestro Sunil Gavaskar and he scored heavily in this series, including four test centuries and a double century. He would go on to serve India for almost 17 more years.

Touring party

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The Indian touring party was announced by the BCCI on 13 January 1971. The selectors named Ajit Wadekar the captain upon dropping Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and Chandu Borde, the latter due to lack of form and fitness. S. Venkataraghavan was named the vice-captain. Notable exclusions included spinner B. S. Chandrasekhar, and Farokh Engineer and Rusi Surti, the latter two owing to a ruling that they must have played during the season's Ranji Trophy competition. Keki Tarapore was appointed the tour manager and Subhash Gupte, the liaison officer.[1]

The team members were:

Tour matches

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Four-day: Jamaica vs Indians

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5–8 February
Scorecard
v
272 (98.2 overs)
Dilip Sardesai 97
Maurice Foster 4/23 (16 overs)
280 (110.4 overs)
Desmond Lewis 96
Bishan Singh Bedi 3/58 (33.4 overs)
290/7d (111.1 overs)
Salim Durani 131
Othneil Miles 3/49 (30.1 overs)
103/1 (44 overs)
Desmond Lewis 67*
Bishan Singh Bedi 1/20 (14 overs)
Match drawn
Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica
Umpires: Douglas Sang Hue and N Sealey
  • Indians won the toss and decided to bat.

Four-day: West Indies Board President's XI v Indians

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11–14 February
Scorecard
v
West Indies Board President's XI
280 (116.5 overs)
Eknath Solkar 51
Maurice Foster 3/27 (15.5 overs)
184 (76.4 overs)
Keith Boyce 41
Bishan Singh Bedi 5/94 (32 overs)
172/7d (62.5 overs)
Kenia Jayantilal 58*
Grayson Shillingford 3/41 (13 overs)
212/4 (62 overs)
Alvin Kallicharran 57*
Syed Abid Ali 1/29 (6 overs)
  • West Indies Board President's XI won the toss and elected to field.

Three-day: Leeward Islands v Indians

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25–28 February
Scorecard
v
361/6d (135 overs)
Ajit Wadekar 128*
Ed Arthurton 3/93 (42 overs)
147 (63 overs)
Leonard Williams
ML Jaisimha 5/38 (17 overs)
270 (94.3 overs)
Livingstone Sargeant 56
ML Jaisimha 5/79 (37 overs)
Indians won by 9 wickets
Warner Park, Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis
Umpires: D. Griffith and P. Queeley
  • Toss not known.
  • Leonard Williams and E Barrett (Leeward Islands) made their first-class debuts.

The Indians got off to a good start batting first, with Sunil Gavaskar and Ashok Mankad putting together 47 runs for the first wicket. Left-arm spinner Elquemedo Willett bowled out Mankad before lunch, with Ed Arthurton bowling a hostile spell of seam bowling after, to dismiss the Indians' middle-order that included wickets of M. L. Jaisimha and Salim Durani. Gavaskar, playing his first game of the tour, made 82 being dismissed caught and bowled by Willett. His side collapsed to 194/6 before Ajit Wadekar and Syed Abid Ali stitched a 112-run partnership taking their side to 306/6 at end of play on day one. Wadekar, who was dropped twice before he go to 10 went on to make a century.[2]

Four-day: Trinidad and Tobago v Indians

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1–4 March 1971
Scorecard
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464/7d (158 overs)
Sunil Gavaskar 125
Inshan Ali 3/151 (39 overs)
338 (133.1 overs)
Charlie Davis 100
Syed Abid Ali 4/80 (24.1 overs)
162/5d (68 overs)
Sunil Gavaskar 63
Alvin Corneal 2/26 (25 overs)
126/0 (43 overs)
Oscar Durity 64*
ML Jaisimha 0/3 (3 overs)
  • Indians won the toss and elected to bat.
  • Sunil Gavaskar (Indians) passed 1,000 runs in first-class cricket.[3]

Four-day: Barbados v Indians

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27–30 March
Scorecard
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185 (53 overs)
Ajit Wadekar 43
John Shepherd 4/40 (14 overs)
449 (112.5 overs)
Garfield Sobers 135
Syed Abid Ali 5/107 (32.5 overs)
313 (125.4 overs)
Kenia Jayantilal 76
Tony Howard 4/59 (24.4 overs)
52/1 (8.2 overs)
Seymour Nurse 26*
Devraj Govindraj 1/32 (4 overs)
Barbados won by 9 wickets
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados
Umpires: D. Griffith and Cortez Jordan
  • Barbados won the toss and decided to field.

Three-day: Windward Islands v Indians

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8–10 April 1971
Scorecard
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207 (102 overs)
Mike Findlay 62
Bishan Singh Bedi 4/52 (33 overs)
197/9d (81.5 overs)
Kenia Jayantilal 65
Martial Francis 4/78 (29 overs)
171/9d (64.5 overs)
Norbert Phillip 38
Devraj Govindraj 3/17 (8.5 overs)
92/2 (28 overs)
Salim Durani 34*
Joe Gibbs 1/26 (5 overs)
  • Indians won the toss and decided to field.

Test matches

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1st Test

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18–23 February 1971
Sccorecard
India  
v
387 (158.4 overs)
Dilip Sardesai 212
Vanburn Holder 4/60 (27.4 overs)
217 (93.5 overs)
Rohan Kanhai 56
Erapalli Prasanna 4/65 (33 overs)
385/5 (136 overs) (f/o)
Rohan Kanhai 158
Eknath Solkar 2/56 (22 overs)
Match drawn
Sabina Park, Kingston
Umpires: Ralph Gosein (WI) and Douglas Sang Hue (WI)

2nd Test

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6–10 March 1971
Scorecard
v
  India
214 (72.5 overs)
Charlie Davis 71
Erapalli Prasanna 4/54 (19.5 overs)
352 (157.4 overs)
Dilip Sardesai 112
Jack Noreiga 9/95 (49.4 overs)
261 (110.5 overs)
Roy Fredericks 80
Srinivas Venkataraghavan 5/95 (36 overs)
125/3 (49.4 overs)
Sunil Gavaskar 67
Arthur Barrett 3/43 (8.4 overs)
India won by 7 wickets
Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain
Umpires: Ralph Gosein (WI) and Stuart Ishmael (WI)
  • West Indies won the toss and decided to bat.
  • Sunil Gavaskar (Ind) made his Test debut.
  • 8 March was a rest day.
  • This was India's first victory against the West Indies in test cricket.

3rd Test

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19–24 March 1971
Scorecard
v
  India
363 (158.2 overs)
Desmond Lewis 81
Srinivas Venkataraghavan 3/128 (59 overs)
376 (167.4 overs)
Sunil Gavaskar 116
Garry Sobers 3/72 (43 overs)
307/3d (100 overs)
Charlie Davis 125
Bishan Singh Bedi 2/55 (26 overs)
123/0 (30 overs)
Sunil Gavaskar 64
Lance Gibbs 0/4 (1 overs)
Match drawn
Bourda, Georgetown
Umpires: Ralph Gosein (WI) and Cecil Kippins (WI)

4th Test

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1–6 April 1971
Scorecard
v
  India
501/5d (171 overs)
Garry Sobers 178
Bishan Singh Bedi 2/124 (54 overs)
347 (125.4 overs)
Dilip Sardesai 150
Uton Dowe 4/69 (23 overs)
180/6d (43 overs)
Roy Fredericks 48
Abid Ali 3/70 (21 overs)
221/5 (103 overs)
Sunil Gavaskar 117
Garry Sobers 2/31 (23 overs)
Match drawn
Kensington Oval, Bridgetown
Umpires: Cortez Jordan (WI) and Douglas Sang Hue (WI)

5th Test

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13–19 April 1971
Scorecard
India  
v
360 (133.3 overs)
Sunil Gavaskar 124
David Holford 3/68 (28.3 overs)
526 (216.3 overs)
Garry Sobers 132
Srinivas Venkataraghavan 4/100 (37.3 overs)
427 (197.4 overs)
Sunil Gavaskar 220
Jack Noreiga 5/129 (53.4 overs)
165/8 (40 overs)
Clive Lloyd 64
Syed Abid Ali 3/73 (15 overs)
Match drawn
Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain
Umpires: Ralph Gosein (WI) and Douglas Sang Hue (WI)
  • India won the toss and decided to bat.
  • 16 April was a rest day.

References

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  1. ^ "India to West Indies 1970-71". test-cricket-tours.co.uk. Archived from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  2. ^ "Wadekar 100 n.o. in Indians' 306/6". The Gleaner. Reuters. 26 February 1971. p. 21. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  3. ^ Trinidad and Tobago v Indians, India in West Indies 1970/71 at CricketArchive (subscription required)
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