It’s a century to cherish!

A for Ajit It was Wadekar who led India to its first Test series win in the WI through the second Test win at Trinidad in 1971 In fact India had never won a Test against WI beforeB for Borde He scored 109 in the first innings of the 195859 Delhi Test and just when Chandu thought he had reached his second century of the match he disturbed his stumps while playing a shot and was out hit wicket for 96 Borde also scored two hundreds in the 196667 seriesC for Calcutta Riots caused over ticket sales headlined the Test here in 196667 and one dayrsquos play was lost Yet the WI found the time to win and go twoup in the seriesD for Durani whose dismissals of Garfield Sobers and Clive Lloyd played a part in the Trinidad Test victory of 1971 The great Sobers in his autobiography said Salimbhai was a ldquomuch underratedrdquoE for Engineer who nearly smashed a hundred before lunch Farokh blazed away to 94 in the 196667 Chennai Test He developed cramps and completed his century in the postlunch sessionF for Fredericks Clive Lloyd may have got the accolades for his 242 in the Wankhede Test of 197475 but Royrsquos 104 shouldnrsquot be forgotten His 100 in the Kolkata Test of the same series went in vainG for Gavaskar Will there be another batsman who can boast of taking 13 Test hundreds off the WI Probably not And calypsonian Lord Relator was rightmdashldquoGavaskar the real masterrdquo His 774 runs in a debut series has yet to be betteredH for Holding To say Mikey was at his dangerous best at Kingston in 1976 would be an understatement He claimed seven in the game and would have had more scalps had five Indians batted in the second inningsI for Ishant His 10 for 108 could well have been a matchwinning effort at Bridgetown in 2011 but the WI hung on to a draw the Test ending with WI scoring 2027 chasing 281J for Jasprit He has played only two Tests against the WI and had fifers in bothmdashAntigua and Kingston in 2019 Bumrah played a role in both of those victories He had amazing figures of five for seven in AntiguaK for Kensington Oval Bridgetown where India succumbed to 81 all out failing to score 120 for victory No wonder skipper Sachin Tendulkar was inconsolable after the TestL for Lloyd Super Cat as he is called made Wankhede Stadiumrsquos inaugural Test in 1975 memorable with an epic serieswinning 242 not outM for Marshall The pace tormentor could also bat and thatrsquos what he did at the Kanpur Test in 1983 with his 92 as West Indies totalled 454 That was before he destroyed India with eight wickets in the TestN for Noreiga Offspinner Jackrsquos 995 went in vain as India stunned the West Indies by beating them in the second Test at Trinidad in 1971O for Operation Thatrsquos what Nari Contractor had to undergo after he was hit on the head by Charlie Griffith in the Barbados v Indians game that took place in between the Kingston and Barbados Tests of the 196162 seriesP for Pataudi The Nawab was recalled as captain to take on the West Indies in 1974 and his leadership played a huge role in the hosts roaring back in the series after being two Tests down Sadly for India they lost the deciding fifth TestQ for Queenrsquos Park Oval Indiarsquos three wins here in 1971 1976 and 2002 are nothing short of significant in the annals of India v WI cricketR for Ravichandran No spin bowler in recent years has tormented the WI like Ashwin has Seventytwo wickets in 12 Tests is testimony to the kind of damage he has causedS for Sardesai No story on Indiarsquos 1971 victory can be told without the mention of Diliprsquos 642 runs That 212 in the opening Test at Kingston was priceless followed by 112 at Trinidad and 150 in BarbadosT for Tendulkar For five years Sachinrsquos 179 v WI at Nagpur in 1994 remained his highest score in Tests until his double hundred against NZ at Ahmedabad in 1999 He faced the quality Windies pacers among whom Curtly Ambrose figured and the Antiguan ended his Test career without dismissing TendulkarU for Umrigar The pundits said he was suspect against pace bowling at one stage and it hurt him Want to know how many runs he scored on the 196162 tour of the WI An impressive 445 in five Tests with 172 not out as his best in TrinidadV for Vijay Indiarsquos first captain on a Test tour to the Caribbean Hazarersquos 195253 tourists gave a good account of themselves allowing the hosts to win only one of the five Tests for a 10 resultW for Weekes He enjoyed an amazing run sequence in the first four Tests on the 194849 tour of India 128 194 162 101 and 90 Sir Everton ended up with 779 runs averaging 11129 in the fivematch seriesX for Xray Indian players over the years have had plenty of them after being hit by WI fast bowlers Sabina Park Kingston 1976 was brutal and no kudos for the courage displayed can be enoughY for Yelling A few years ago Sunil Gavaskar revealed how a fan in the stands yelled out as Eknath Solkar was about take a catch on the 1971 tour ldquoSolkaar Solkaar If you drop that you can have my sista sisterrdquo Of course Solkar didnrsquot drop itZ for Zenith WI were at this stage when they had four quality fast bowlers at the throats of batsmenmiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper