The West Indian team, eager in going for the kill,blended professionalism into their apparently carefree approach thanks chiefly to Frank Worrell’s astute leadership andaccomplished their task of completing a clean sweep.
Partab Ramchand17-Apr-2002Riding on a wave of success after their first rubber victory overEngland at home in the 1961-62 season, the Indian cricket teamembarked on a tour of the West Indies in a mood of optimism.Three months later, the squad came back having suffered one ofthe most traumatic experiences for any visiting team, both on andoff the field.
The West Indian team, eager in going for the kill, blended professionalism into their apparently carefree approach thanks chiefly to Frank Worrell’s astute leadership andaccomplished their task of completing a clean sweep.
The five-match series itself was lost 0-5, and as if this werenot disturbing enough, the international career of captain NariContractor came to a sudden and brutal end following a near-fatalinjury in a match against Barbados between the second and thirdTests. Contractor was hit on the head by a ball from thecontroversial Charlie Griffith and had to undergo more than oneemergency operation. For days, he lay between life and deathbefore he pulled through the ordeal. Displaying courage of thehighest order, he came back to first-class cricket at home duringthe 1963-64 season, but there was no way he could play for Indiaagain.A maiden series victory over England even if the visitors werenot at full strength was something to rejoice about, and theupbeat mood before the tour did not seem out of place. But theIndians had reckoned without two important factors. As futureevents proved, the triumph over England was rather over-rated,and secondly, the West Indies made for much more formidableopposition.On the face of it, there seemed to be many reasons for theIndians to do well. The batting, manned by Contractor, MLJaisimha, Vijay Manjrekar, Polly Umrigar, Dilip Sardesai, MAKPataudi, Chandu Borde, Salim Durrani, Farokh Engineer and BudhiKunderan seemed strong enough. The bowling in the hands ofRamakant Desai, Rusi Surti, Borde, Durrani, Nadkarni and ErapalliPrasanna also looked capable of holding its own, even against thefree-stroking West Indian batsmen.Certainly there were no indications that the Indians would suffera whitewash, including two innings defeats. But this was exactlywhat happened. While Contractor’s serious injury would haveaffected team morale, it must be remembered that India hadalready lost both matches before this unfortunate incident.The West Indian team, eager in going for the kill, blendedprofessionalism into their apparently carefree approach thankschiefly to Frank Worrell’s astute leadership and accomplishedtheir task of completing a clean sweep. The Indians, on theirpart, lacked the will to fight back. Teamwork was sadly lacking,and what was left to savour were just a few gallant individualperformers.Prominent among these was Polly Umrigar. The Bombay stalwart, whoturned 36 during the tour, did not enjoy the best of health onthe trip. Increased bowling responsibilities, thanks to theretirement of Ghulam Ahmed, Subhash Gupte, Vinoo Mankad, DattuPhadkar and Gulabrai Ramchand in the preceding few years, hadtaken its toll on his magnificent physique, and he had backproblems almost throughout the tour.But still Umrigar sent down 35 overs in the first Test, 49 in thethird and 72 in the fourth, as the Indian bowling resourcesproved limited. In addition, he had to shoulder the battingresponsibilities, and he rose to the occasion splendidly,particularly in the fourth Test at Port-of-Spain, when he came upwith a rare double a century and five wickets in an innings.Umrigar thus emulated Mankad’s feat at Lord’s 10 years earlier,and till today, 40 years later, no other Indian has come anywherethis feat. In fact, he top-scored in both innings with 56 and 172not out the highest score by an Indian against the West Indies besides sending down 56 overs in the first innings to take fivewickets for 107. Umrigar aggregated 445 runs for the series, farahead of the next best Durrani’s 259 – and retired at the endof the tour with his cricketing powers still at their zenith.Besides Umrigar, Durrani was the only other Indian to get ahundred an electrifying 104 in the same Port-of-Spain Test. Bynow, of course, he was also India’s leading bowler, and he livedup to his reputation by taking 17 wickets in the five Tests even though the cost was on the high side. Nadkarni proved hisobdurate all-round capabilities, while Surti excelled with hisleft-handed strokeplay and his outstanding fielding. Indeed,while the Indians were outclassed in batting and bowling, theydid match the home team in fielding, and in this aspect wereworthy successors to the 1953 squad.More, however, was expected from Borde, Sardesai, Jaisimha andPataudi. Manjrekar, given the fact that he had just set an Indianrecord of aggregating 586 runs against England, was the biggestdisappointment. His reputation as the best player of pace bowling inthe side took a deep dent, and he was reduced to just 167 runs at anaverage of 16.70. Borde, given his rising stature, was another who wasexpected to counter the threat of Wes Hall and Co. But a return of 246runs at an average of 24.60 was not in keeping with his credentials.Jaisimha was a failure, too often getting out to an injudicious stroke.Pataudi, who missed the first two Tests, could not find his bearingsdespite his immense talent, while Sardesai, who was tried out as opener, found the going tough. Incidentally Pataudi, suddenly promoted to the captaincy following the injury to Contractor, became the youngest-ever Test captain at the age of 21.No less disappointing was the bowling. Desai struggled on pitchesthat should have helped him, while Vasant Ranjane did reasonablywell in the lone Test he played. The spinners were a letdown,though. The young Prasanna, then in his maiden internationalseason, found bowling to Garry Sobers, Rohan Kanhai and Worrellan awesome proposition. Nadkarni was at most steady, whileBorde’s leg-spin failed to trouble the fleet-footed West Indianbatsmen. Durrani was the only bowler to emerge with hisreputation untarnished, while Umrigar trundled on gallantlydespite physical limitations.For the West Indies, the result was an unexpected bonus. Playingtheir first series since the magical tour of Australia in1960-61, the West Indies had a lot to live up to, and theyproceeded to make mincemeat of India with a performance right outof the top drawer. Sobers and Kanhai lived up to expectations byscoring two centuries each, and Sobers chipped in with the balltoo, finishing with 23 wickets. Opening batsman Easton McMorrisproved to be quite difficult to dismiss, while Joe Solomon,Worrell and Seymour Nurse chipped in with valuable contributions.Gibbs proved his abilities by taking 24 wickets with his offspinners. But not unexpectedly, the wrecker-in-chief was Hall,who terrorised the Indians time and again to finish with 27wickets. In addition, Worrell captained the side with ashrewdness that could not fail to win admiration. The Indianrecord abroad had always been woeful, and the West Indians justrubbed it in.