Indian cricket team in the West Indies in 2006
| India in West Indies in 2006 | |||||
 |
 | ||||
| Dates | 16 May – 4 July 2006 | ||||
| Captains | Rahul Dravid | Brian Lara | |||
| Test series | |||||
| Result | India won the 4-match series 1–0 | ||||
| Most runs | Rahul Dravid (497) | Daren Ganga (344) | |||
| Most wickets | Anil Kumble (23) | Corey Collymore (15) | |||
| Player of the series | Rahul Dravid | ||||
| One Day International series | |||||
| Result | West Indies won the 5-match series 4–1 | ||||
| Most runs | Virender Sehwag (237) | Ramnaresh Sarwan (273) | |||
| Most wickets | Ajit Agarkar (9) | Dwayne Bravo (8) | |||
| Player of the series | Ramnaresh Sarwan | ||||
India toured the West Indies during the 2006 international cricket season. India were ranked highly above the West Indies in both the ICC Test Championship as well as the ICC ODI Championship but the latter team had the favour of beating Zimbabwe 5–0 in a series of One Day International matches earlier in the month. West Indies eventually emerged as winners of this ODI series, taking it 4–1 after losing the first match in the final over.
India had not won a Test series in the West Indies for 35 years, but India defeated the West Indies 1–0 in the Test series. Rahul Dravid, the Indian squad captain, was awarded the Man of the Series award for his performance.
Former West Indian fast bowler and commentator, Michael Holding, said between the ODIs and Tests that the West Indies ODI series win was an event that "nobody had foreseen".[1]
Schedule
| Date | Match | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| May | ||
| 16 | Tour Match | Jamaica |
| 18 | 1st ODI | Jamaica |
| 20 | 2nd ODI | Jamaica |
| 23 | 3rd ODI | St Kitts |
| 26 | 4th ODI | Trinidad |
| 28 | 5th ODI | Trinidad |
| 30–31 | Tour Match | Antigua |
| June | ||
| 2–6 | 1st Test | Antigua |
| 10–14 | 2nd Test | St Lucia |
| 22–26 | 3rd Test | St Kitts |
| 30–4 Jul | 4th Test | Jamaica |
Squads
Players were selected for both ODIs and Tests unless otherwise specified.
| India[2][3] | West Indies[4][5][6] |
|---|---|
|
|
One-Day Matches
Tour Match (16 May)
Indians 7/289 (50) def Jamaica 173 (45) by 116 runs. [7]
1st ODI
India won the toss and captain Rahul Dravid elected to field first, after five overs were cut off each side's innings due to heavy overnight rain. West Indies hit 251 runs for 6 wickets, with Chris Gayle contributing nearly half the total, 123, before he was out with five overs remaining to Ajit Agarkar, who got the most wickets for India, claiming two for 38. However, India also had an opener contributing a century, with Rahul Dravid bringing up his hundred in 99 balls, eventually ending with 105 off 102. Dravid paired up with Mohammad Kaif to add 123 for the fourth wicket, before Dwayne Bravo had Dravid caught, leaving India with 43 to get from the last 37 balls; with two fours and a six from Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and Kaif hitting 16 off his last 16 deliveries, India made it to the target with a ball to spare.
Second ODI (20 May)
| West Indies | 9/198 (50 overs) | West Indies won by one run [8] |
|
Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica | ||
| India |
197 (49.4 overs) | |
|
Yuvraj Singh 93 (121) |
India won the toss and captain Rahul Dravid elected to field first, looking for his 18th continuous win batting second,[9] but it was not to be his day as Dwayne Bravo delivered a "clever slower ball"[10] which went through Yuvraj Singh's wicket, leaving him bowled and India all out for 197 needing 199 to win.
West Indies lost both openers with one run, sending Brian Lara in to bat with Ramnaresh Sarwan. Captain Lara was caught off Pathan for 14, however, which was to be the fourth-highest total of West Indies' innings. The second-highest was 21, from Carlton Baugh, but due to an unbeaten 98 from Ramnaresh Sarwan, which later resulted in Man of the Match honours, the West Indies' total read 198 for nine, with Sarwan and Jerome Taylor adding 34 off 20 balls for the ninth wicket before Fidel Edwards scored the final run of the innings.
In reply, India started better than West Indies, making 37 for the first two wickets, which were catches off Ian Bradshaw's bowling. Two more wickets followed, with Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor picking up one each, but at 60 for four in the 17th over, India were still 17 ahead of West Indies' score for the same amount of wickets. Then, like in the West Indian innings, the fifth-wicket stand was the highest of the game. However, the 64 runs came at a rate of 3.49 an over, somewhat short of the required four to win, and after Suresh Raina's dismissal Dhoni and Agarkar followed within the next three overs.
India now had three wickets in hand and 64 to get, but Ramesh Powar batted for eight overs together with Yuvraj Singh, as the pair cut 43 off the total, Powar contributing 12. Powar was caught off Marlon Samuels' bowling, however, as the spinner picked up his second wicket, and Chris Gayle then held a return catch off Harbhajan Singh two overs later. That left India with 12 runs to get off 10 balls; the remainder of Gayle's over went for one run, and India needed eleven off the last over, which was to bw bowled by Dwayne Bravo (who had only bowled three of the 49 previous overs). Munaf Patel faced the first ball, got it away for a single, before Yuvraj Singh hit two fours to leave himself with two runs to get off three balls, only to be cleanly bowled off the last delivery.
Third ODI (23 May)
| v |
||
| |
|
Fourth ODI (26 May)
| v |
||
| |
|
Fifth ODI (28 May)
| v |
||
| |
|
First-class matches
Tour match (30–31 May)
Antigua and Barbuda 300 (72.2 overs) drew with Indians 9/311 (96 overs). [11]
First Test (2–6 June)
| 2–6 June |
| India |
v |
West Indies |
Second Test (10 June to 14 June)
Third Test (22–26 June)
| 22–26 June |
| West Indies |
v |
India |
Fourth Test (30 June to 4 July)
References
- ↑ Defeat is part of the learning curve – Holding, by Michael Holding, published by Cricinfo on 30 May 2006
- ↑ India Squad, from Cricinfo, retrieved 16 May 2006
- ↑ Powar and Rania included in Test team, from Cricinfo, retrieved 24 May 2006
- ↑ West Indies Squad, from Cricinfo, retrieved 16 May 2006
- ↑ West Indies make two changes, from Cricinfo, retrieved 24 May 2006
- ↑ Mohammed included in Test squad, from Cricinfo, retrieved 28 May 2006
- ↑ Jamaica v Indians Scorecard, retrieved from Cricinfo, 19 May 2006
- ↑ Second ODI Scorecard, from Cricinfo, retrieved 23 May 2006
- ↑ India's amazing middle order, by S Rajesh, published by Cricinfo on 19 March 2006
- ↑ Windies clinch a low-scoring thriller, by Anand Vasu, published by Cricinfo on 20 March 2006
- ↑ Tour Match Scorecard: Antigua and Barbuda vs Indians, retrieved from CricInfo, 2 June 2006
- ↑ First Test Scorecard, from Cricinfo, retrieved 6 May 2006
- ↑ Third Test Scorecard, retrieved from CricInfo, 27 June 2006