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50 years ago, today, the Indian cricket team played the first match against Jamaica during the historic WI tour. Here’s a thread to relive the incredible things that happened, besides SMG’s 774 runs and India’s first ever test series win in the Caribbean 1/n
Four players (K Jayantilal, P Krishnamurthy for India and A Barrett and J Noreiga for WI) made their debut in the first test. Barring Barret (6 tests), none of them ever featured in another series in their career 2/n
Jayantilal made his debut in the first test since SMG was unwell and he was the reserve opening batsman. Unfortunately, that was the only test he ever played. Once SMG got going, Jayantilal did not get another opportunity 3/n
SMG made his debut in the second test. Even before he had opened the batting for India, SMG made his debut as a bowler in the test as West Indies batted first. Incredible! Sardesai’s second hundred in the series helped set up the win for India 4/n
Of the 13 wickets India lost in the second test, an incredible 12 fell to spinners. Leg spinner Barrett got three, while Noreiga got 9/95 in the first innings. No other West Indian bowler has ever taken nine wickets in an innings. Incredible!! 5/n
In the 3rd test, Desmond Lewis and Keith Boyce were debutants. Lewis’s career (batting average: 88.33) lasted only three tests in that series (incredible, again!), while Boyce played for three more years. SMG scored his first test century 6/n
(4th test) Inshan Ali & Uton Dowe debuted. Both played beyond the 1971 series. Just about. Amazingly, WI tried 10 bowlers (barring wk Desmond Lewis. Incredible!!) in the 2nd innings as India needed 335 to win & ended at 221/5, SMG unbeaten on 117 7/n
The 5th test was a 6-day affair! No debutants. Chasing 261 to win, WI stuttered to 165/8, India sniffing another win. Abid Ali got Sobers out first ball. (Some 10 years later, Karsan Ghavri was to do it to Chappell at Melbourne for an India win) 8/n
The 5th test was all about SMG’s 124 and 220. Barring day 3, he batted on the other five days of the test! His 220 was scored when he was also battling an acute toothache. Incredible again!! His book Sunny Days mentions about his toothache 9/n
As a school kid, I once bought a book, which had match reports of India vs West Indies 1947-48 series to 1970-71 series. Dad was surprised but I insisted. Some of these are memories from what I read in that book. Wish I can find it now 10/n
Some of these details mentioned above have been told to me by my chacha, who followed the matches as a fan in his 20s. 50 years later, he still remembers quite a bit of that series. He was on cloud nine when India won the series! 11/n
For me, personally, this was the first small step for India in being noticed as a cricket playing nation. The 1976 Port of Spain victory, scoring 406/4, added to this and was no small feat
