West Indian cricket team in India in 1958–59

International cricket tour

The West Indies cricket team toured India from November 1958 to February 1959 and played a five-match Test series against the India national cricket team. The West Indies won the series 3–0. The West Indies were captained by Gerry Alexander while India used four different captains in the series, Ghulam Ahmed leading in two Tests.^[1]

Touring party

The West Indies Cricket Board announced a 16-man squad for the India tour on 1 April 1958 led by Frank Worrell.^[2] However, Worrell withdrew from the tour in May. John Holt and Wes Hall were added to the squad in August.^[3]

The squad included:

• Gerry Alexander (c)
• Eric Atkinson
• Basil Butcher
• Robin Bynoe
• Lance Gibbs
• Roy Gilchrist
• Wes Hall
• Jackie Hendriks (wk)
• John Holt
• Conrad Hunte
• Rohan Kanhai
• Sonny Ramadhin
• Willie Rodriguez
• Collie Smith
• Garfield Sobers
• Joe Solomon
• Jaswick Taylor

Test series summary

First Test

• West Indies won the toss and elected to bat.
• Chandu Borde, Ghulam Guard and Manohar Hardikar (all Ind), and Basil Butcher and Wes Hall (both Win) made their Test debuts.
• 1 December was taken as a rest day.
• Collie Smith (Win) and Gulabrai Ramchand (Ind) passed 1,000 runs while Polly Umrigar (Ind) passed 2,000 runs in Tests.^[4]
• Subhash Gupte became the second India player to claim 100 Test wickets.^[5]

Second Test

• West Indies won the toss and elected to bat.
• 15 December was taken as a rest day.
• Vasant Ranjane (Ind) and Joe Solomon (Win) made their Test debuts.

Third Test

• West Indies won the toss and elected to bat.
• Ramnath Kenny and Surendranath (both Ind) made their Test debuts.
• Rohan Kanhai made his first century and the highest individual by a West Indies player against India in a Test (256).^[6]
• 2 January was taken as a rest day.

Fourth Test

• West Indies won the toss and elected to bat.
• Apoorva Sengupta (Ind) made his Test debut.
• 23 January was taken as a rest day.
• Rohan Kanhai and Garfield Sobers (both Win) passed 1,000 and 2,000 runs respectively in Tests.^[7]
• Roy Gilchrist (Win) claimed his 50th wicket in Tests.^[7]

Fifth Test

• India won the toss and elected to bat.
• Ramakant Desai (Ind) made his Test debut.
• Chandu Borde (Ind) scored his first Test century.^[8]
• 9 February was taken as a rest day.
• John Holt passed 1,000 runs in Tests.^[8]

References

1. "West Indies in India 1958–59". CricketArchive. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
2. "Worrell to Lead W. Indies Team to India". The Indian Express. Reuters. 2 April 1958. p. 10.
3. "Test Cricket Tours - West Indies to India & Pakistan 1958-59". Test Cricket Tours. Archived from the original on 3 March 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
4. India v West Indies, West Indies in India and Pakistan 1958/59 (1st Test) at CricketArchive (subscription required)
5. Chughtai, Arshad (9 March 2006). "Sobers prefers Gupte over Warne". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 1 August 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
6. "India v West Indies". Wisden. ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
7. India v West Indies, West Indies in India and Pakistan 1958/59 (4th Test) at CricketArchive (subscription required)
8. India v West Indies, West Indies in India and Pakistan 1958/59 (5th Test) at CricketArchive (subscription required)

External links

• Tour home at ESPNcricinfo
• Tour home at ESPNcricinfo archive
• West Indies in India and Pakistan 1958/59 at CricketArchive (subscription required)