Team India has been remarkable on the ongoing West Indies tour after securing a terrific victory in the first Test by an innings. The second game however ended in a draw because of rain otherwise a whitewash would have been possible.
Now, with the ODI series set to be played from July 27, there would be a huge amount of pressure on the home side after their defeat in the longest format. The loss at the CWC Qualifiers 2023 would also be there in the back of their mind. Though the Windies are a better side in limited-overs cricket, playing against a top line-up would be challenging for them.
On the other hand, India has a better ODI record against West Indies and their performance on the Caribbean Island has been impressive. Today, let us take a look at the top five ODI victories of Team India in the West Indies against the home side.
#5 India vs West Indies (2006 Jamaica)
It was a 45-over game in Jamaica with India elected to field first. Skipper Rahul Dravid was playing with his best possible XI with no Sachin Tendulkar in the squad. The absence of Zaheer Khan and Sourav Ganguly due to their rough patch was also an issue for the skipper still he managed to clinch a remarkable victory in the end.
After sending West Indies to bat first, Chris Gayle proved to be a nightmare for the Indian team as he hammered a scintillating century. Gayle scored 123 runs off just 130 balls to make sure his team finished on a high. Legend Brian Lara was the only one who supported Gayle by scoring 35 from the other end. In the end, the hosts managed to put up 251 runs on the board in 45 overs.
Now, India had to start well if they would have to win this one and Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid were successful in doing so after putting up 56 runs for the first wicket. The visitors, however, lost the track in between after the wickets of Irfan Pathan and Yuvraj Singh but came back strongly when Mohammad Kaif came to bat.
Both Dravid and Kaif built a partnership of 122 runs for the fourth wicket and helped India win the game in the last over. ‘The Wall’ was adjudged the Player of the Match for his sensational knock of 105 runs off just 102 balls.
#4 India vs West Indies (2002 Trinidad)
Sourav Ganguly playing a shot in one of the matches from the past
It was the final ODI of the series and India had to win this one if they wanted to lift the trophy and Ganguly’s men did that in style with a superb victory by 56 runs.
After batting first, India put a decent total of 260 runs on the board with Sachin Tendulkar scoring 65 runs off 70 deliveries. His innings included three boundaries and one maximum, however, he took the scoreboard deep and managed to end with a good score. Skipper Sourav Ganguly scored 56 runs while Sehwag scored run-a-ball 32.
On the other hand, Windies pacer Mervyn Dillon picked up a fifer which helped his side restrict India to just 260 runs. However, even this score proved to be too much for the hosts. The tough situation started when the target was revised to 248 runs in 44 overs by the D/L method.
None of their players scored a lot and the team got all out for just 190 with Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul scoring 36 runs and 52 runs respectively. With no effort from the others, the Caribbean side lost the game as well as the series. Ashish Nehra and Ajit Agarkar were India’s best bowlers from this game as together they picked up 5 wickets.
#3 India vs West Indies (1983 Guyana)
Throwback to one of the finest ODIs between the two nations where India dismantled the hosts in the limited overs even before the World Cup.
Kapil Dev’s men got the chance to bat first and they took the best out of it by scoring 282 in just 47 overs. It was a huge score at that time but the side like West Indies were all capable of achieving this score.
Sunil Gavaskar played a phenomenal innings of 90 runs off 117 deliveries where skipper Kapil Dev became the showstopper of the team by scoring 72 runs off just 38 balls. The fearless batting of the Haryana Hurricane helped India put up this much score which gave them one of the finest victories of all time.
On the other hand, Clive Lloyd and Co. tried their level best but couldn’t reach the total. Veteran Vivian Richards played a top-class innings of 64 runs whereas Jeff Dujon played an unbeaten innings of 52 runs that went in vain.
On the bowling front, Kapil Dev and Ravi Shastri picked up three wickets respectively whereas Balwinder Sandhu and Madan Lal picked up two wickets each. This was probably a shocker for the hosts but still, they managed to win the series 2-1 in the end.
#2 India vs West Indies (2022 Trinidad)
Winning a high-scoring game and that too in the Caribbean Island is something that doesn’t come easily. India, who took the field without Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma managed to earn a spectacular victory in 2022 at Trinidad in the captaincy of Shikhar Dhawan.
After batting first, India put up a big total of 308 runs, thanks to Dhawan’s splendid innings of 97 runs and Shubman Gill’s innings of 64 runs while opening the batting. Number three batsman Shreyas Iyer too played a good knock of 54 runs which helped his side cross the 300-run mark. On the flip side, Windies were quite ordinary with the ball but they impressed during their batting.
Shikhar Dhawan played a phenomenal innings of 97 runs against West Indies in 2022
A brilliant innings of 75 runs from Kyle Mayers and a decent knock of 54 runs from Brandon King gave the Windies hope that they could achieve this mammoth target, however, some poor luck turned the game in India’s favour in the end. Dhawan was awarded Player of the Match for his special innings of 97 runs.
#1 India vs West Indies (2022 Trinidad)
Chasing 312 runs in any part of the world is difficult, however, fans witnessed an epic classic in the same series where Axar Patel helped India win the iconic game by two wickets.
After bowling first, the Indians spent too many runs and the reason behind this was Windies opener Shai Hope who hammered a terrific century and put the team in the driver’s seat. He got great support from Nicholas Pooran, who scored 74 runs, and together they helped their side post a big total.
Now with no Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, it’s always difficult to chase big totals, however, there was something different written that day as Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson scored half-centuries while Axar Patel played the role of a finisher by scoring 64 runs off just 35 balls. 56 runs were needed in the last six overs with no recognised batsmen left, still, the southpaw did a miracle all alone and gave India the victory to remember for ages.