Test Cricket Tours - India to New Zealand & West Indies 1975-76
Tour of
New Zealand & West Indies 1975-76Captain: Bishan Bedi
India’s fifteenth Test tour
Second
Test-playing tour of New Zealand
by India
Fourth
Test-playing tour of West Indies by India.
(January - April 1976)
Venkataraghaven, having led India briefly
on the fruitless 1975 World Cup campaign, saw the captaincy taken from him
and passed on to Bedi.After a shared
series in New Zealand, India was faced with the challenge of meeting
the mighty West Indies team in a four-Test
series. India
made a disastrous start, but Bedi rallied the team to have the best of the
drawn second Test match and win the third.Following torrential rain, the third Test had been shifted from Georgetown to Port of Spain
where the Queens Park Oval pitch gave some assistance in turning the ball but
the West Indies’ trio of spinners were unable to prevent India
reaching a huge target; in future they would rely on an all-pace attack. This
victory at Port-of-Spain was historic; India became only the second team
to score 400 in the fourth innings to win a Test match.
West Indies then won the final
Test at Kingston with India
protesting that the fast bowlers were using intimidating tactics against
them.Bedi declared his first innings
closed at 306-6 in protest, and was thought to have done the same in the
second innings at 97-5 but in fact there was no-one left to come in because five
men were unable to bat because of injury.
India had
come to the Caribbean from a gentler three-Test series in New Zealand.Gavaskar arrived late in the West Indies
because of an operation for a fractured cheekbone received in New Zealand.
Despite the eventful Test
series, West Indies Board could not entice enough spectators through the
gates to watch, and suffered a loss of approximately £17,000 on the tour.
Balu Allagannan of Madras had been
India's
manager in Sri Lanka 1973-74.
Selectors
C D Gopinath (chairman), Jayasingh Ghorpade, Vijay Mehra, Pankaj Roy, Raj Singh.
They were joined by Bishan Bedi (captain) and Polly Umrigar (tour manager).
Selection
Polly
Umrigar was appointed tour manager on 10 December, and Bedi as the skipper
ten days later.
UnavailableFarokh Engineer (business reasons).
Tour Party Announced : 22 December 1975.
Not
Selected :
Time between selection and departure from India
18 days
(22 December - 9 January)
Travel
MadrasQAuckland
AucklandQSt Vincent
The team flew from Madras on 9 January 1976, via Sydney,
to Auckland,
arriving on 10 January, then to Napier for the opening match.
After the matches in New Zealand,
they left Auckland on 22 February and flew by way of the United States to St
Vincent where they landed on 24 February for the West Indies leg of the the
tour.
Time spent in New
Zealand43 days(10 January - 22 February)
Solkar did not play in New Zealand
for five weeks owing to a head injury sustained while fielding at
short-leg.Gavaskar missed mid-tour
matches after his cheek was fractured in the Wellington Test, and during this
period Venkat captained in two matches.