Team India is marching towards victory in the ongoing Test match at Rajkot. West Indies will play a 2 match Test series against hosts India. While the hosts are the top ranked Test nation in the world as per the ICC rankings, the visitors are languishing at number 8 in the ICC Test rankings.
West Indies last beat India in a Test match in May, 2002 at Kingston. The last time India was beaten at home against the West Indies was in December, 1994 at Mohali. It has been almost 24 years since India lost a Test to West Indies at home and 16 years since India lost a Test match to West Indies.
Though India has dominated West Indies in Test matches since the year 2000, West Indies in the past have tasted success in India. In 45 Tests in India, West Indies have won 14, lost 11 and drawn 20 Tests.
In 11 Test series at home, India have tasted success in 4, lost 5 series and 2 have ended in draws.
Here is a detailed analysis of each series played between India and West Indies in India.
- 1948-1949- West Indies triumph in the 5 match Test series by a margin of 1-0:
West Indies toured India for a 5 match Test series for the first time in 1948-1949. The first three Tests of the series played at Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata ended in draws.
The fourth Test at Chennai saw West Indies thrashing India by a margin of an innings and 193 runs. Batting first, West Indies scored 582 runs riding on the centuries of their openers A.F. Rae and J. B. Stollmeyer. India managed to score 245 runs in their first innings and 144 in their second innings. Gomez picked up 7 wickets in the match and led West Indies to their first ever Test win on Indian soil.
The fifth Test too ended in a draw and West Indies won the 5 match series by a margin of 1-0 courtesy the Test win in the fourth Test at Chennai.
2. 1958-1959- West Indies thrash India in the 5 match series by a margin of 3-0:
A decade after their first tour of India, West Indies tasted success once again on Indian soil in the 1958-1959 season. The first and at fifth Tests at Mumbai and Delhi respectively ended in draws.
West Indies were the superior team in the second, third and fourth Tests and thrashed India by huge margins. The second Test at Kanpur started on an interesting note with both teams scoring 222 runs. The visitors riding on 198 runs of Gary Sobers in the second innings scored 443 runs and India were bundled out for just 240 runs in the fourth innings with Wes Hall picking up 5 wickets.
Rohan Kanhai scored a brilliant 256 in the first innings of the third Test at Kolkata and West Indies scored 614. India were bowled out for 124 and 154 in both their innings. West Indies triumphed by an innings and 336 runs in the Test.
The fourth Test at Chennai saw another dominant performance by the visitors and India were beaten by 295 runs. The gap between both the teams was evident with the visitors winning their second consecutive series on Indian soil.
3. 1966-1967- Hat trick of Test series wins in India:
The 1966-1967 season saw West Indies completing their third series win in India. The three match series was won by the visitors by a margin of 2-0.
The first Test at Mumbai was dominated by the visitors and they won the Test by a margin of 6 wickets.
The hosts were no match for West Indies in the second Test at Kolkata and riding on Kanhai's 90 and Gary Sober's 70, they scored 390 in their first innings. Lance Gibbs picked up 5 Indian wickets in the first innings and the hosts were bundled out for 167. Gary Sobers picked up 4 wickets in India's second innings and India were bowled out for 178. West Indies won the series courtesy wins in the first two Tests. The third Test at Chennai ended in a draw.
4. 1974-1975: West Indies beat India in an intense series:
The series between India and West Indies in 1974-1975 was one of the most intense and a hard fought series by both the teams. West Indies dominated the first two Tests at Bangalore and Delhi and beat India by a margin of 267 runs and an innings and 17 runs respectively.
India beat West Indies for the first time at home in the third Test at Kolkata. Batting first, the hosts scored 233. The visitors took a lead of 7 runs in their first innings. The third innings saw a brilliant century by Viswanath and India scored a competitive 316. India bowled out West Indies for 224 in the fourth innings and were victorious in the Test.
India leveled the series at Chennai by beating the visitors by a margin of 100 runs. Both the teams were neck to neck in the first innings and West Indies took a lead of just 2 runs in the first innings. Anshuman Gaekwad scored a brilliant 80 in India' s second innings and led India to a score of 256. West Indies were set a target of 254 and were bowled out for just 154.
The decider at Mumbai was dominated by the visitors and they thrashed the hosts by a margin of 201 runs. Clive Lloyd scored an unbeaten 242 in the first innings and West Indies scored 604 in the first innings.
Though India won two Tests in the series, the series was won by West Indies by a margin of 3-2.
5. 1978-1979: India's first series win at home against West Indies:
India won their first series at home against West Indies in the 1978-1979 season. The six match Test series was won by the hosts by a margin of 1-0. The first, second, third, fifth and sixth Tests ended in draws.
The fourth Test at Chennai saw India winning by a margin of 3 wickets. Batting first, West Indies riding on 98 runs of their skipper Kallicharran scored 228. Viswanath scored 124 in India's first innings and India scored 255. The lead of 27 was handy for India. S. Venkataraghavan picked up 4 wickets in the third innings and West Indies were bowled out for 151. India chased the target with 3 wickets in hand. The win was enough for India to secure their first series win against West Indies at home.
6. 1983-1984: West Indies beat India by a margin of 3-0:
India were the favourites to clinch the 1983-1984 Test series against the West Indies at home. India had beaten West Indies in the finals of the 1983 World Cup at Lord's and were looking forward to dominate West Indies once again in the 6 match Test series.
The visitors riding on the innings of Gordan Greenidge who scored 194, amassed a total of 454 in the first innings. The duo of Marshall and Holding picked up 14 wickets in the Test and bowled out India for 207 and 164 runs in both their innings. The visitors won by a margin of an innings and 83 runs.
The second Test at Delhi ended in a draw. The third Test at Ahmedabad saw West Indies thrashing India by a margin of 138 runs. The fourth Test at Mumbai ended in a draw.
West Indies clinched the series by winning the fifth Test at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata by an innings and 46 runs. Batting first, India could score just 241 runs in their first innings. West Indies scored 377 in their first innings with the skipper Clive Lloyd scoring an unbeaten 161. Malcolm Marshall was the destroyer in India's second innings and he picked up 6 wickets and India were bowled out for just 90 runs. The sixth Test ended in a draw and India lost the series by a margin of 3-0.
7. 1987-1988: First drawn series between India and West Indies on Indian soil:
West Indies bowled India out for just 75 runs in the first innings of the first Test of their tour of India in 1987-1988 at Delhi. Chetan Sharma picked up 5 wickets in the second innings of the Test and the visitors were bundled out for just 127 runs. India posted a respectable total of 327 in the third innings of the Test. West Indies chased the target of 275 courtesy an unbeaten century by Viv Richards and won the match by 5 wickets.
The second and third Tests ended in a draw. India was back to winning ways in the fourth Test at Chennai. Kapil Dev scored 109 in the first innings of the Test and India posted 382 runs. Narendra Hirwani, on debut picked up 8 wickets in the second innings of the Test and West Indies were bowled out for 184. India declared their second innings at the score of 217. West Indies were set a target of 415 in the fourth innings. The Windies were caught in the spinning web of Hirwani once again and the spinner picked up 8 more wickets. India emerged victorious by a margin of 255 runs.
8. 1994- Another drawn series 1-1:
India started the Test series on a positive note by winning the first Test at Mumbai by 96 runs. Javagal Srinath picked up 5 wickets in the Test and was named the Man of the Match.
The second Test ended in a draw and India were all set to win another series against West Indies. However, West Indies came hard on the Indian team in the third Test at Mohali and beat the hosts by 243 runs. Jimmy Adams 174 in the first innings and an unbeaten 78 in the second innings and helped the visitors to level the series. The win at Mohali in 1994 was the last time that West Indies beat India in India.
9. New millennium- Team India on a winning streak:
West Indies toured India for a 3 match Test series in 2002. By the year 2002, West Indies were no longer a force they used to be and team India under Sourav Ganguly were making rapid strides in international cricket.
The first Test at Mumbai saw centuries from the bats of Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag. India scored 457 in their first innings. West Indies were bowled out for 157 in their first innings. India enforced the follow on and Harbhajan took 7 wickets in the second innings of West Indies and bowled them out from 188. India won the Test by an innings and 112 runs.
Team India clinched the series by winning the second Test at Chennai. The third Test ended in a draw.
Team India won their second Test series at home against the West Indies.
10. 2011- Team India continue to dominate West Indies:
Team India continued their dominance over West Indies in the 2011 Test series. West Indies started the Test series at Delhi on a positive note and took a lead of 95 runs in the first innings. The visitors could not capitalise on the lead and were bowled out for just 180 runs in their second innings with Ashwin picking up 6 wickets. India chased the target 275 with ease and registered another win against West Indies.
The second Test at Kolkata saw India completely thrashing the visitors by a margin of an innings and 15 runs. India scored 631 runs in their first innings with Dravid, Laxman and Dhoni scoring centuries. West Indies were bundled out for 153 and 463 respectively in both their innings and team India took a lead of 2-0 in the 3 match series.
The third Test at Mumbai ended in an exciting draw and team India won their third series at home against West Indies.
11. 2013- Team India whitewash West Indies by a margin of 2-0:
India completed their first whitewash over West Indies at home in the year 2013.The series was Sachin Tendulkar's last in international cricket. The Tests were scheduled to be played at Kolkata and Mumbai.
Team India completely dominated West Indies and thrashed them by a margin of an innings and 51 runs at Kolkata and an innings and 126 runs at Mumbai.
It was evident that team India was completely dominating West Indies in Test cricket and West Indies were only a shadow of their glory days.
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