A brief spell of rain on day one and the resultant mushy outfield for the next four days rendered the Queen’s Park Oval unplayable, as a result of which both West Indies and India had to settle for a draw in the final Test match of the four-match series at Port-of-Spain.
India’s Recent Domination Of West Indies In Test Cricket
As a result, India, who were elevated to the top of the ICC Test rankings just before the Test match, slipped one place and find themselves at second place in the ten-team rankings. The Virat Kohli-led Indian team was definitely the more competitive of the two teams in the series even though that doesn’t fully reflect in the 2-0 series result.
There were few moments when the home side looked in control of things, but by and large it was the Indian team that called the shots. The Quint looks at a few important numbers that stand up at the conclusion of the series.
Going back in history, India did not win a Test match against the West Indies until the 25th match between the two teams. Even thereafter, cases of India beating West Indies were far and few, particularly while playing in the Caribbean.
But cut to the last 14 years, the story is exactly the opposite: India hasn’t lost a Test match to the West Indies since October 2002 — be it in India or in the Caribbean. During this period, India have won six consecutive Test series against the West Indies, which is the Indian team’s longest such streak against any team.
Virat Kohli’s Indian Team
Under the leadership of Virat Kohli, the Indian team is soon establishing itself as a force to reckon with — not just while playing at home, but also while playing overseas. The Indian team has had the reputation of being poor travellers for most part of its Test history.
However, starting with the tenure of Sourav Ganguly, the Indian team started to compete well while playing overseas. Under Virat Kohli, India have already won two Test series overseas — even if in slightly familiar conditions. In 2015, Kohli led the Indian team to a 2-1 series win — India’s first series win in Sri Lanka since 1993-94, and now he has a series win in the Caribbean too.
Ashwin Turns Into A Dependable All-Rounder
A large portion of the credit for India’s win in the Caribbean should go to off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who bamboozled the hosts and returned with a series haul of 17 wickets, taken at a strike-rate 46.24. In addition, he also contributed with the bat —scoring two hundreds in the series — and justifying his billing as the top-ranked all-rounder in the ICC ratings.
In the process, Ashwin joined an elite club of only three other cricketers, who had scored two hundreds and picked up two five-wicket hauls in a series.
Ashwin’s performance of 235 runs & 17 wickets in the series earned him the Player of the Series award. It was his sixth such award in his brief Test career.
Saha Delivers With The Bat
Among the gains for India from the series — which captain Virat Kohli made a point to mention in the post-match presentation — was the form of Wriddhiman Saha with the bat. Heading into the series, there were questions if Saha’s batting skills were adequate for international cricket.
However, Saha silenced those questions by scoring his maiden Test century. Saha’s 104, coming at a crucial situation in the third Test match, was among the few centuries scored by Indian wicket-keepers in overseas Test matches.
For the record, India have had 35 different wicket-keepers in its Test history, but only nine of them have scored a century at the Test level, of which only four of them have made Test hundreds overseas. Saha is one of those four!
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