The

India national cricket team The India men's national cricket team, also known as Team India or the Men in Blue, represents India in men's international cricket. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and is a Full Member of the International ...

toured the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

during the 1970–71 cricket season. They played five

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

matches against the

West Indian cricket team The West Indies cricket team, nicknamed the Windies, is a multi-national men's cricket team representing the mainly English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean region and administered by Cricket West Indies. The players on t ...

, with India winning the series 1–0. 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 Sunil Manohar Gavaskar (Marathi pronunciation: uniːl ɡaːʋəskəɾ ; born 10 July 1949), is an Indian cricket commentator and former cricketer who represented India and Bombay from 1971 to 1987. Gavaskar is acknowledged as one of the grea ...

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

The Indian touring party was announced by the BCCI on 13 January 1971. The selectors named

Ajit Wadekar Ajit Laxman Wadekar (; 1 April 1941 – 15 August 2018) was an Indian international cricketer who played for the Indian national team between 1966 and 1974. Described as an "aggressive batsman", Wadekar made his first-class debut in 1958, ...

the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

upon dropping Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and

Chandu Borde Chandrakant Gulabrao "Chandu" Borde (born 21 July 1934), is a former cricketer who was a member of the Indian team between 1958 and 1970. Following his retirement, Borde became a cricket administrator, serving as the Chairman of national sele ...

, the latter due to lack of form and fitness. S. Venkataraghavan was named the vice-captain. Notable exclusions included spinner

B. S. Chandrasekhar Bhagwat Subramanya Chandrasekhar (informally Chandra; born 17 May 1945) is an Indian former cricketer who played as a leg spinner. Considered among the top echelon of leg spinners, Chandrasekhar along with E.A.S. Prasanna, Bishen Singh Bedi a ...

, and

Farokh Engineer Farokh Maneksha Engineer (born 25 February 1938) is an Indian former cricketer. He played 46 Test matches for India, played first-class cricket for Bombay in India from 1959 to 1975 and for Lancashire County Cricket Club in England from 196 ...

and

Rusi Surti Rusi Framroze Surti ( 25 May 1936 – 13 January 2013) was an Indian cricketer who played in 26 Tests from 1960 to 1969. He was a left-arm medium pace and left-arm spin bowler and a lower-order batsman. Surti was also a popular professional for ...

, the latter two owing to a ruling that they must have played during the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy (also known as Mastercard Ranji Trophy for sponsorship reasons) is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between multiple teams representing regional and state cricket associations. Board of Control for Cr ...

competition.

Keki Tarapore Keki Khurshedji Tarapore (17 December 1910 – 15 June 1986) was an Indian cricketer who played in one Test match in 1948, and a cricket administrator. Tarapore studied at Harda New High School and Elphinstone College, Bombay and captained ...

was appointed the tour manager and

Subhash Gupte Subhashchandra Pandharinath "Fergie" Gupte (Marathi: सुभाष गुप्ते) (; 11 December 1929 – 31 May 2002) was one of Test cricket's finest spin bowlers. Sir Garry Sobers, EAS Prasanna and Jim Laker pronounced him the best ...

, the

liaison officer A Liaison officer is a person who liaises between two or more organizations to communicate and coordinate their activities on a matter of mutual concern. Generally, liaison officers are used for achieving the best utilization of resources, or empl ...

. The team members were: *

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

, captain & batsman * S. Venkataraghavan,

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

, vice-captain & off break bowler *

Syed Abid Ali Syed Abid Ali (born 9 September 1941) is a former all-rounder Indian cricketer. He was a lower order batsman and a medium pace bowler. He played an important role in Indian cricket in the 1960s and 70s. Early life Abid Ali attended the St. ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...

, medium bowler *

Bishan Singh Bedi Bishan Singh Bedi (; born 25 September 1946) is a former Indian cricketer who was primarily a slow left-arm orthodox bowler. He played Test cricket for India from 1966 to 1979 and formed part of the famous Indian spin quartet. He played a total ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

, left arm spin bowler *

Salim Durani Salim Aziz Durani (born 11 December 1934) is a former Indian cricketer who played in 29 Test matches from 1960 to 1973. An all-rounder, Durani was a slow left-arm orthodox bowler and a left-handed batsman famous for his six-hitting prowess. H ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern ...

, left arm spin bowler *

, Bombay, opening batsman *

Devraj Govindraj Devraj Devendraraj Govindraj (born 2 January 1947) is a former fast bowler who played first-class cricket in India from 1964–65 to 1974–75. He toured the West Indies in 1970–71 and England in 1971, but did not play Test cricket. He is ...

, Hyderabad, fast-medium bowler * ML Jaisimha, Hyderabad, all-rounder *

Kenia Jayantilal Hirji Kenia Jayantilal (born 13 January 1948) is a former Indian cricketer who played in one Test match in 1971. He played for Osmania University and was part of the university team for when it won the Rohinton Baria Trophy in 1966-67. On ...

, Hyderabad, opening batsman *

Rusi Jeejeebhoy Rusi Jeejeebhoy (born 2 December 1942) is an Indian former cricketer. He played first-class cricket for Bengal between 1965 and 1973. Jeejeebhoy was educated at Calcutta Boys' School and the University of Calcutta. He toured the West Indies in ...

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

, wicket-keeper *

Pochiah Krishnamurthy Pallemoni Krishnamurthy, also known as Pochiah Krishnamurthy, (12 July 1947 – 28 January 1999) was an Indian cricketer who played in five Test matches in 1971 against West Indies and one One Day International A One Day International ...

, Hyderabad, wicket-keeper *

Ashok Mankad Ashok Mulvantrai Mankad (12 October 1946 – 1 August 2008) was an Indian cricketer. A right-handed batsman, he played for India in 22 Test matches. Ashok Mankad was born in a Vadnagra Nagar Brahmin family as the eldest son of Vinoo Manka ...

, Bombay, batsman *

EAS Prasanna Erapalli Anantharao Srinivas Prasanna (born 22 May 1940) is a former Indian cricket player. He was a spin bowler, specializing in off spin and a member of the Indian spin quartet. He is an alumnus of National Institute of Engineering, Mysore. ...

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude o ...

, off break bowler *

Dilip Sardesai Dilip Narayan Sardesai (; 8 August 1940 – 2 July 2007) was an Indian international cricketer. He played Tests for the Indian national team as a batsman, the first Goa-born cricketer to play for India, and was often regarded as one of India' ...

, Bombay, batsman *

Eknath Solkar Eknath Dhondu 'Ekky' Solkar (18 March 1948 – 26 June 2005) was an Indian all-round cricketer who played 27 Tests and seven One Day Internationals for his country. He was born in Bombay, and died of heart attack in the same city at the age o ...

, Bombay, left arm medium bowler * Gundappa Viswanath, Mysore, batsman

Tour matches

Four-day: Jamaica vs Indians

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

Three-day: Leeward Islands v Indians

The Indians got off to a good start batting first, with

and

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 Seam bowling is a bowling technique in cricket whereby the ball is deliberately bowled on to its seam, to cause a random deviation when the ball bounces. Practitioners are known as ''seam bowlers'' or seamers. Seam bowling is generally classed ...

after, to dismiss the Indians' middle-order that included wickets of M. L. Jaisimha and

. Gavaskar, playing his first game of the tour, made 82 being dismissed

caught and bowled Caught is a method of dismissing a batsman in cricket. A batsman is out caught if the batsman hits the ball, from a legitimate delivery, with the bat, and the ball is caught by the bowler or a fielder before it hits the ground. If the ball h ...

by Willett. His side collapsed to 194/6 before

and

stitched a 112-run

partnership A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments ...

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 A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

Four-day: Trinidad and Tobago v Indians

Four-day: Barbados v Indians

Three-day: Windward Islands v Indians

Test matches

1st Test

2nd Test

3rd Test

4th Test

5th Test

References

External links

Tour home
at

ESPNcricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...

Tour home
at ESPNcricinfo archive * {{DEFAULTSORT:Indian cricket team in the West Indies in 1970-71 1971 in Indian cricket 1971 in West Indian cricket Indian cricket tours of the West Indies International cricket competitions from 1970–71 to 1975 West Indian cricket seasons from 1970–71 to 1999–2000