India and the West Indies have an eloquent history of cricketing encounters against each other, and the "Utsav Zone" celebrates just that. Moments of glory, performances to cherish, matches to remember for a lifetime - we pick them out from the 70 Tests and 66 one-dayers these two teams have fought over. Packaged together, the "Utsav Zone" presents you genuine cause to celebrate the sport's rich and hoary past.

The luck of the draw

If it was Brian Charles Lara this time around, it was Ajit Laxman Wadekar 31 years ago. April 1, the day the penultimate India-West Indies Test of the 1971 series began at the Kensington Oval, Barbados, was the Indian skipper’s birthday. Coming into the Test, his team held a 1-0 lead over the home team.

The match at the Kensington Oval, a ground that had always favoured the home team, represented the West Indies’ best chance of leveling the series. The tour match preceding the Test had seen a Barbados side led by West Indies skipper Garry Sobers register a convincing nine-wicket win over the Indians. Sobers himself had made a welcome return to form, scoring a match- winning ton.

On the appointed day, Wadekar won what he believed was a crucial toss. But after opener Roy Fredricks fell for just one, it was the West Indies all the way. Sobers, playing on his home ground, was in supreme form, carving a magnificent unbeaten 178 as the home team declared after making a monumental 501 for five in 171 overs.

© CricInfo

The Indian reply got off to a controversial start; Sunil Gavaskar, who made a debut hundred in the previous match, was dismissed for one in poor light after the umpires refused to call off play, despite an appeal from his opening partner, Ashok Mankad. The next day saw India sink deeper into the mire as five more wickets fell, leaving them tottering at 70 for six.

Their fading hopes rested on Dilip Sardesai, who had already made a double-hundred and hundred in the series. On his arrival at the Bridgetown airport, Sardesai, when asked if he had anything to declare, replied, with a broad smile playing on his lips: “I have come here with runs, and I am going to leave Barbados with more runs.”

He proceeded to fulfill that promise. Batting with fellow- Mumbaikar Eknath Solkar, Sardesai retrieved the situation for his team. An exquisite cover-drive off Sobers saw him raise his third century of the series.

The duo had added 186 when Solkar (65) became debutant quick Utoz Dowe’s fourth victim in the innings. Abid Ali and Srinivas Venkataraghavan too followed soon after, with India at 285 for nine needing another 17 runs to avoid the follow-on.

Fortunately, Bishan Bedi, not at his best as a batsman, rode his luck and helped Sardesai add a record 62 runs for the last wicket. When the Indian innings ended on 347, Sardesai, soon to be called the ‘Renaissance man of Indian cricket’, had made a glorious unbeaten 150.

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The West Indies, pressing for a win, rattled up 180 for six in 43 overs, before Sobers declared his team’s second innings closed. This left India 335 to get in a little over five hours on the final day. Victory was almost impossible for the tourists, and they needed to grind out a draw.

Their resolve was tested rather early; Mankad fractured his right wrist while trying to fend off a snorter from Dowe. But he hung on gamely, batting one-handed for the best part of an hour.

At the other end, Gavaskar displayed the grit and concentration that were to make him a legend in the coming years. The 21-year- old’s second hundred of the series, a patient 117 not out, was the cornerstone around which the successful Indian defence was built. When play was called off, India had made 221 for five off 103 overs.

Most importantly, they had drawn a Test at Kensington Oval for the first time and ensured that they wouldn’t lose the series. The final Test at Port of Spain was to be dominated by Gavaskar, whose double hundred and hundred in the two Indian innings was to earn his team a famous draw and an epoch-making series win.

© CricInfo

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