Team India, led by Virat Kohli, will be in the Caribbean for a month-long tour after two years.
The tour will kick-off with a three-match T20I series, which will be followed by a three-match ODI series. The tour will conclude with a two-Test match series. The Test series will be under the purview of the ICC World Test Championship, which starts with the Ashes 2019 on 1 August.
Since the onset of the millennium, India have had mixed luck against the West Indies in West Indies. In 2006, India registered their first Test series win in the Caribbean after 35 years. But since then, India haven’t lost a Test series there.
Before the tour is underway, here is a look at how India’s last five tours to the Caribbean panned out.
India Tour of West Indies (2017)
The last time the Indian team went to West Indies was two years ago in 2017. But Team India, led by Virat Kohli, didn’t play a full-fledged tour. The contest comprised 5 ODIs and a solitary T20I.
India went on to win the ODI series 3-1. After the first ODI was called-off due to rain in Port-of-Spain, India registered thumping victories in the next two ODIs. India beat West Indies by 105 runs and 93 runs in the second and the third ODI respectively.
West Indies made a comeback in the fourth ODI. They clinched a thriller by 11 runs in a low-scoring encounter in Antigua. But India were back in business in the fifth ODI to wrap the series 3-1. They registered a comfortable 8-wicket win.
For India, it was Ajinkya Rahane who starred with the bat. Rahane scored 336 runs in 5 innings to win the Man of the Series award. He scored one century and 3 half-centuries. With the ball, Kuldeep Yadav led the charge for India with 8 wickets.
In the only T20 international of the tour, West Indies showed why they were the reigning champions in the format. After India scored 190 in their 20 overs, the hosts chased down the target with 9 wickets and 9 balls in hand. Opener Evan Lewis played a blinder of a knock for 62-ball 125.
India Tour of West Indies (2016)
Before the 2017 tour, India had been in the Caribbean for 4 Tests and 2 T20Is less than a year ago.
India had a comfortable ride in the Test series, registering wins in the first and the third Test while drawing the other two.
India skipper Virat Kohli scored his maiden Test double hundred as India won by an innings and 92 runs to take a 1-0 lead. West Indies managed to draw the second Test after India took a massive lead in the first innings.
Ravichandran Ashwin scored his second century of the series as India again routed the hosts with a 237-run win in the third Test. The last Test was a wash out with no play possible from Day 2 onwards.
Apart from his two centuries, Ashwin accounted for 17 wickets in the Test series to be adjudged Player of the series.
India also went on to play two T20Is in Florida in the US. India lost the first encounter by a margin of 1 run after West Indies posted a mammoth 245 while batting first. India’s KL Rahul scored a 51-ball 110 not out but was unfortunate to end on the losing side.
The next T20 international was a wash out again as West Indies clinched the series 1-0.
India Tour of West Indies (2011)
This was India’s last full-fledged tour to the West Indies before 2019. Apart from three Tests, the tour comprised 5 ODIs and a T20 international and India had a great outing, winning all the three formats.
India got off to a great start, registering their first-ever T20 win against West Indies in the only 20-over encounter of the tour.
India carried forward their good run in the ODI series as well. The MS Dhoni-led side sealed the five-match series after winning the first three encounters. West Indies did make a comeback to finish with two wins in as many matches as India won the series 3-2.
For India, Rohit Sharma finished with 257 runs to be declared the Player of the Series. He scored three fifties with the highest being 86 not out.
In the Tests too, India had the upper hand after they won the first Test by 63 runs. The next two Tests were drawn as India won back-to-back Test series in West Indies for the first time. Old war horse Rahul Dravid finished with 251 runs while Ishant Sharma accounted for 22 wickets.
Sharma went home with the Player of the Series trophy for his rich haul with the ball.
India Tour of West Indies (2006)
This tour included one of the landmark Test series in India’s recent Test history. India won a Test series in the Caribbean after 35 long years. India, led by Rahul Dravid, played a five-match ODI series followed by a four-match Test series. T20s were yet to become a regular feature of tours.
India started the tour with the ODI series. After a great start by winning, India lost the next four ODIs to lose the series 1-4. India won the first ODI by 5 wickets but went on to lose the next ODI by a slender margin of 1 run. The third ODI saw India lose by 4 wickets while the India went down by 6 wickets and 19 runs in the following two ODIs.
Despite the loss, India’s Virendra Sehwag had a good tournament with the bat. He amassed 237 runs with a couple of nineties to his name.
As the Test series was underway, there was very little with which to distinguish between both sides as the first three matches ended in a draw. The Indian batting continued to excel with Wasim Jaffar scoring 212 in the first Test, Sehwag’s 180 in the second Test and Laxman scoring a ton in the third Test.
India clinched the fourth Test, a low-scoring encounter, to complete a memorable Test series win. Indian skipper Rahul Dravid also won the Player of the Series award for his astonishing 496 runs in 4 Tests. He finished with a hundred and four fifties.
India Tour of West Indies (2002)
India’s first tour to the Caribbean after six years. India had the daunting task of playing a five-match Test series against the Windies side, which boasted the likes of Brian Lara, Carl Hooper, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and a young Chris Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan.
The last time India had won a Test series in West Indies was way back in 1971, and this time around, India had a ferocious batting line-up to break the jinx.
After the first was drawn, India drew blood by winning the second Test by 37 runs. Tendulkar scored a 117 in the first innings while Ganguly notched up a 75 in the second.
West Indies came back strongly to take home the third Test and level the series 1-1. Skipper Carl Hooper led from the front with the bat. His 115 in the first innings was crucial along with Chanderpal’s 115 for the big first innings’ lead.
The fourth Test was the worst advertisement for Test cricket as batsmen from both sides piled on runs on a pitch deemed best as ‘bowler’s graveyard’. For India, VVS Laxman scored a century while Ajay Ratra became the first Indian wicket keeper to score an overseas century.
It was during West Indies’ innings that we witnessed one of the most courageous and memorable acts on a cricket field by an Indian as Anil Kumble bowled with a broken jaw.
Apart from this, the match also saw all eleven Indian players bowling, only for the third time in the history of cricket.
West Indies won the fourth Test by a massive 155 runs and clinched the series 2-1.
India’s only consolation was winning the five-match ODI series 2-1 after the first two matches were abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Apart from these, India went to West Indies for a four-match ODI series in 2009, which India won 2-1 and in 2013, India were there for a tri-series involving Sri Lanka as the third team. India won the tournament, beating Sri Lanka in the final.
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