India v West Indies - Series Summary

India and West Indies have now met on three occasions in the ATG arena, and on all three occasions West Indies have emerged as 2-1 victors come the end of the series. Garry Sobers' tourists deserved their win here, with two decisive victories bookending the series as the West Indian spinners largely outbowled their hosts' counterparts on a succession of turning wickets. The exception was in the second Test in Mumbai, where twin centuries from Pataudi jnr extricated India from deep trouble and allowed his side to record their first home win in eight attempts.

Pataudi was the stand out batsman on either side but he received scant support from his top order, with Mohammad Azharuddin enduring a horror series that included three ducks in six innings. Kapil Dev was generally unable to maintain his good recent form, and there were rarely enough runs on the board to allow the Indian spinners to attack in the manner that they would have liked.

For West Indies, Rohan Kanhai made the most of Clive Lloyd's absence through injury to top the tourists' batting averages, and there were enough contributions from the rest of the line-up to ensure that India were always under pressure. Marshall and Walsh toiled admirably in unfavourable conditions, but it was the spin of Gibbs and Valentine that proved decisive in the first and third Tests, with Valentine's ten wicket haul in Chennai the first such return by a West Indian slow bowler. West Indies now move above South Africa into third place in the world rankings having won their last four series, and a comprehensive victory in the upcoming engagement with New Zealand could see them challenging England for top spot come the end of ATG Season V.

Leading Series Averages

India Batting

MAK Pataudi 391 runs @ 65.17, Kapil Dev 150 @ 25.00, VS Hazare 123 @ 24.60, SM Gavaskar 133 @ 22.17, M Prabhakar 125 @ 20.83

India Bowling

EAS Prasanna 9 wkts @ 14.11, BS Chandrasekhar 10 @ 29.10, S Venkataraghavan 7 @ 31.43, M Prabhakar 5 @ 32.80, Kapil Dev 6 @ 37.00

West Indies Batting

RB Kanhai 275 runs @ 68.75, PJL Dujon 166 @ 41.50, IVA Richards 207 @ 41.40, DL Haynes 198 @ 39.60, GStA Sobers 104 @ 26.00

West Indies Bowling

AL Valentine 11 wkts @ 18.91, LR Gibbs 15 @ 22.20, CA Walsh 12 @ 23.00, GStA Sobers 8 @ 23.13, MD Marshall 9 @ 25.67

WEST INDIES WON THE SERIES 2-1

Men of the Series: MAK Pataudi & RB Kanhai