New Delhi: Former India captain and veteran opening batsman Sunil Gavaskar set a record on the Indian side of the West Indies on 19 April 1971, which is still intact after 49 years, that is the record for most runs in the debut test series. Gavaskar had scored 774 runs in 4 matches of that series of 5 Test matches. He then broke the 51-year-old record of West Indies' George Hadley, who scored 703 runs in 4 Tests against England in 1930.
Gavaskar, who toured the West Indies as an opening batsman, did not play in the first Test match at Kingston as a result of his superb performance at the domestic level. He made his second Test debut at Port of Spain and played half-century innings of 65 and 67 not out. Gavaskar scored more than 50 runs in each innings, except for just one innings in the entire series. These include 4 centuries. In the fifth and final Test match of the series played at Port of Spain, he put a line of records.
This was the reason that after being impressed by Gavaskar's performance in this series, Lord Relator of Trinidad i.e. Willard Harris wrote Calypso that the West Indies cannot outplay Gavaskar. In the 5th Test match at Port of Spain, Indian captain Ajit Wadekar won the toss and decided to bat first. Gavaskar played a brilliant innings of 124 runs in the first innings. India scored 360 runs in response to which West Indies scored 526 runs. After which Gavaskar alone had hit 220 runs in the second innings.
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