In almost seven decades of Test cricket in India, few teams have
enjoyed the rampaging success that the West Indians of 1958-59
did. After the first Test was drawn, the tourists won the next
three Tests by margins that brooked no argument, and India only
just about managed to avoid defeat in the final game of the
series. They were thus the first team to win three successive
Tests in India.
Was the side really all that formidable? It certainly was wellserved in batting and pace bowling. In Gary Sobers, they had the
then-world-record holder, who only the previous season had
notched up a score of 365 not out against Pakistan. The other
batsmen in the side included Jack Holt, Conrad Hunte, Rohan
Kanhai, Basil Butcher, Joe Solomon and 'Collie' Smith. Gerry
Alexander, a wicket-keeper-batsman of some repute, led the
tourists shrewdly.
In Wesley Hall and Roy Gilchrist, the West Indians possessed a
pace duo the likes of which the Indians had never seen. Not only
were Hall and Gilchrist fast, but their bouncers and occasional
beamers were also disconcerting for the batsmen, who had still
not gotten over their fear of and distaste for pace bowling. It
was only in the spin department that the tourists were not a
force. 'Sonny' Ramadhin, never really successful against the
Indians, was discarded after the first Test, and all-rounders
Smith and Sobers provided the spin support.
But with Hall and Gilchrist in devastating form, the spinners'
role was minimal. In five Tests, Hall took 30 wickets, while
Gilchrist - who missed one game as a disciplinary measure -
finished with 26 wickets. The visitors' batting also took a heavy
toll of the Indian bowling. Sobers reeled off hundreds in each of
the first three Tests, Kanhai hit 256 in the third Test then
the highest individual score against India and followed it up
with 99 in the next match.
Centuries also flowed from the blades of Butcher, Smith, Solomon
and Holt. The bowling was put to rout as in successive Tests, and
the West Indies, worthy successors of the 1948-49 side, reeled
off totals of 443 for seven declared, 614 for five declared, 500
and 644 for eight declared. But they went one better than their
predecessors by racing to three victories by 203 runs, an innings
and 336 runs, and 295 runs.
All this may give the impression that the West Indians were an
all-powerful unit. While they were a very fine side, the onesided result in the series was also a fall-out of seamy incidents
on and off the field. The Indians might have been ill-equipped to
take on the tourists, but they were also given no help by the
unhealthy atmosphere that prevailed throughout the series.
There were arguments galore among selection committee members,
leading to one of them - LP Jai - resigning in the midst of the
contest, while another - C Ramaswami - following suit after the
series. There was also alleged interference from Board members in
matters of team selection. These sordid happenings and the
subsequent heavy defeats were even discussed in the Lok Sabha.
The team thus never had a settled look, with as many as 24
players figuring in the five Tests. Worse, four captains led
India in the series. Ghulam Ahmed was appointed captain for all
five Tests, but he withdrew on the eve of the first Test, and
Polly Umrigar led in his place. Ghulam took over the captaincy
for the second and third Tests. But the two heavy defeats forced
him to announce his retirement. Umrigar was then named captain
for the fourth Test at Madras, but following a disagreement with
the selectors, he resigned the post on the eve of the Test. Vinoo
Mankad was chosen as a last-minute replacement, while in the
final Test at New Delhi, Hemu Adhikari was appointed captain.
Under these circumstances, it was perhaps expecting too much for
the Indians to perform up to their capabilities. There were only
a few crumbs of comfort. Umrigar lived up to his reputation by
scoring 337 runs, as did Roy who aggregated 334. More however was
expected from Vijay Manjrekar, given his reputation as a peerless
player of pace bowling. Subash Gupte took 22 wickets, but after
his great performance in the second Test at Kanpur - where he
became the first Indian to take nine wickets in an innings - he
was hit all over the place by the young, fleet-footed batsmen.
The one really outstanding discovery of the series was Chandu
Borde, who with successive knocks of 56, 109 and 96 announced his
arrival on the international stage. He came within a stroke of
emulating the feat of his mentor Vijay Hazare of scoring a
century in each innings of the final Test at New Delhi. But even
as he was starting to make his mark, that Test marked the end of
Mankad's illustrious 44-match career. The series in fact also saw
Dattu Phadkar, Ghulam Ahmed and Adhikari play their last Tests,
signalling a change of guard even as many young players like
Borde, Nari Contractor, Bapu Nadkarni and Ramakant Desai started
to make their presence felt.