It's now more than 45 years since India's cricket team went to the West Indies, and saw off a side that had Sir Garfield Sobers and Rohan Kanhai 1-0 in a five-Test series.
Sunil Gavaskar, who opened in four of the Tests, made 774 runs, and a few months later, the team went to England and beat the best team in the world 1-0.
Coming at a time when Indian hockey was going into decline – petty ego clashes had seen two captains sent to the Mexico Olympics – those two tours played a huge role in cricket becoming the country’s most popular sport.
More Dileep
• India is indeed a football-loving nation, and its loyalties lie with Lionel Messi
• Anil Kumble, tenacious and determined, can lead India as he did in his playing days
Anil Kumble, newly appointed coach of the Indian team, was less than a year old the first time India won in the Caribbean, though he played a huge part in the next victory in 2006, taking 23 wickets in the four Tests.
West Indies’ Test team is now in far worse state than it was in 1971 or 2006, with most of the top stars playing the Caribbean Premier League instead, but the tour still represents a big test for Virat Kohli and a squad that have to learn how to win away from home.
At one of the Drum Circle bonding sessions before the team left for the Caribbean, MS Dhoni, the limited-overs skipper who will not be on the tour, spoke passionately about how anything was possible if the squad stuck together. But it is not team spirit that has let India down on previous tours. It is the inability to take 20 wickets.
On increasingly sluggish Caribbean pitches, Ravichandran Ashwin and Amit Mishra could have big roles to play, but they will need the pace bowlers – especially Ishant Sharma, man of the series when India won in 2011 – to set the tone.
For a relatively inexperienced captain and a new coach, victory would be a huge boost ahead of far trickier assignments against New Zealand, England and Australia.
sports@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport
