5 West Indies cricketers of Indian origin

In a recent report released by the United Nations, the Indian diaspora is by far the largest in the world. But, on the shores of the Caribbean island, the scene is a bit different from rest of the world.

The diaspora included people who were sent there by the British for sugarcane plantation labour in the mid 18th century. These people have been living there for ages now and their identity has somewhat changed. From their accent, food, and clothing, nothing matches that of an Indian or an Indian diaspora residing somewhere else in the world.

The British controlled the game of Cricket and tried to expand it wherever they went and it was no different on the Caribbean shores. These islands joined hands to make a united cricket team and named it West Indies.

West Indies were the undisputed rulers of Cricket from 1970 to the late 1990’s. They had four best fast bowlers in their team who tormented any batting line-ups during their heydays. The group includes Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Joel Garner and Malcolm Marshall.

Apart from bowlers, the team also produced legendary batsmen who could rip apart any bowling attack. Sir Vivian Richards alone was enough to dismantle any tough bowling attack during that period.

In the name itself “West Indies”, we find “India”. Not only the name but even some of the greatest ever West Indies cricketers were of Indian origin, especially the Indo-Guyanese origin.

Now, here we bring you a list of Indian origin West Indies cricketers who succeeded at the highest level.

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#1 – Ramnaresh Sarwan

A batsman who is rated very highly in the cricketing fraternity, Ramnaresh Sarwan broke into the Windies squad against the touring Pakistan and made his debut against them at Barbados in the year 2000.

But despite all his injuries and hiccups throughout his career he has nearly 6000 runs each in both ODIs and Tests. He was involved in one of the greatest ever run chases when West Indies chased down a mammoth 418 against the touring Aussies.

Sarwan along with his Indo-Guyanese teammate, Shivnarine Chanderpaul scored magnificent centuries which enabled the Windies to chase down an improbable victory target of 418. The run chase is still the highest in Test cricket history. He also has 20 international centuries to his name (5 in ODIs and 15 in Tests). Sarwan hails from a Hindu family of Indian descent. His parents’ names are Kishan and Kumari Sarwan.

#2 – Alvin Kallicharan

Alvin Kallicharan is a former West Indies cricketer of the Indo-Guyanese ethnicity and played for the nation from 1972-1981. A stylish left-handed batsman during his playing days, Kallicharan was known for his elegant and watchful batting style. He was also a useful off-break bowler. He was the Wisden Cricketer of the year in 1973.

He was a part of the West Indies World Cup winning team. He was appointed the Windies captain in 1977-78 when Clive Lloyd resigned from the captaincy for the Kerry Packer issues. He was later involved in a controversy when he led an unofficial rebel tour to South Africa. He finished his career with 4399 Test runs and played 66 Tests during that period.

#3 – Rohan Kanhai

Regarded as one of the greatest ever West Indies batsmen in the 1960s era of uncovered wickets, Rohan Kanhai represented West Indies in 79 Tests. He is a former Guyanese cricketer and his ancestors are of Bhojpuri origin.

He made his Test debut in the year 1957 against England, and kept wickets and opened the innings in his first 3 Tests. He was famous for his unorthodox shots, especially the falling hook shot, in which he finished his follow through lying on his back.

During the latter half of his career, he was appointed the captain of the national side succeeding Sir Garfield Sobers which made the team a more determined lot. He retired from international cricket in 1974 playing his last Test against England.

#4 – Denesh Ramdin

A wicketkeeper-batsman from Trinidad, Denesh Ramdin made both his Test and ODI debuts in the year 2005 against Sri Lanka and India respectively. His ancestors are of Bhojpuri origin.

He holds the record for the highest individual score by a West Indies wicket-keeper in Tests and the second highest in ODIs. He became the captain of Trinidad and Tobago in 2011, replacing another Indian origin cricketer Daren Ganga.

He has scored 4 Test centuries with two against England and one each against Bangladesh and New Zealand. He has been a solid performer in ODIs too, scoring two centuries in that process. In May 2014, he was named the Test captain of the West Indies cricket team replacing Darren Sammy.

# 5 – Shivnarine Chanderpaul

Former West Indian cricketer, Shivnarine Chanderpaul – who is from Guyana – is hailed as one of the best batsmen, West Indies has produced. He is the first Indo-Caribbean cricketer to play 100 Tests. Chanderpaul had an unorthodox batting style with a total open chest stance but despite that he has scored nearly 12000 Test runs and nearly 9000 ODI runs.

He has been a consistent performer for West Indies spanning over two decades. Making his debut way back in the year 1994, he played for 21 years at the highest level. He played his last Test in 2015 against England and bid adieu to what was an illustrious career.

Records with the Purnia District Administration (a district in North East Bihar) suggest that Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s great grand uncle, Pawan Kumar Chanderpaul had emigrated to Guyana in the year 1873 and this makes him a bonafide Bihari from his mother’s side.