West Indies - The land of my hero

The 1989 West Indies tour was considered one of the toughest tours that India embarked on in the 80s. The Indian board organised a conditioning camp in Chennai for 20 players under close observation to pick the final 15. With 19 Test matches under my belt and having toured Pakistan, Australia, England and Sri Lanka, I wanted to make the cut real bad.

The talks doing the rounds were not in my favour and my inclusion in the team was uncertain. The selectors wanted just four fast pace bowlers in the squad. As the camp progressed under tough conditions, Kapil Dev, Sanjiv Sharma and Robin Singh were emerging as the selectors' favourites. And I was to battle for the lowly fourth seamer spot with T.A Shekhar. I was quite perplexed by this situation as I had taken a five-for at Delhi in the most recent home series against West Indies and had four wickets in the Mumbai Test.

Eventually, the hard work in the camp paid off and I bagged the fourth pacer's spot. Here I was, heading back to the Caribbean for my second tour. Remember, I was a kid learning the trade on the school's tour in 1981. Only, this time, I was Test cricketer.

A true test

A gruelling 5 ODIs and 4 test matches awaited us. At the outset, I was mentally prepared to wait for my turn. After all, I was the fourth pacer. However, after our pre-match practice session, I was in for a rude surprise. The boundaries at Bridgetown for the 1st ODI were deemed short for spinners and the team management decided to play three pacers. What's more, I was going to play. The day started on a high as I sprinted out with the team but it ended on a disappointing note. We lost to the Sir Viv Richards led West Indies by 50 runs and I had gone wicketless in six overs.

It was a bad start by the Indian side and we never really recovered. The series was miserable as we lost 0-5. This loss was quite demoralising for all of us and we were only getting started. The 4 match Test series now awaited us.

In the first Test match at Georgetown, West Indies put up 437 on the board. The atmosphere was carnival-like. Huge speakers were placed alongside the boundaries. And every time a West Indian batsman scored a boundary, a Bob Marley track resonated across the stadium. The fans in the jam-packed stands danced away to glory and Richardson lapped up the energy en route to a fabulous 194.

When it was India's turn to bat and Arun Lal and Navjot Sindhu opened, the crowd got restless. "Where is the little master?" they cheered. Sunil Gavaskar was a widely recognised cricketer in the region and a big draw.

I meet my hero

Bridgetown hosted the second Test match to be played at Bridgetown. At the time, the track the Kensington Oval was deemed the quickest wicket in the West Indies. And to make matters worse for us, they fielded Malcolm Marshall. The man was my hero and with him in the team alongside Ambrose, Bishop and Walsh, their attack was truly formidable.

On a quick wicket, the West Indies won the toss and decided to field. We managed 321 runs with Sanjay Manjrekar getting a brilliant 108. And guess what, I ended up batting against my hero. Marshall and the rest of the pack were the quickest set of bowlers I had ever faced. Ian Bishop sent down deliveries that were lightning quick and off the 10 balls I faced, there were several that I barely spotted.

They were bowling around the stumps with four slips, two gullies, silly mid-off, short leg and backward short leg. The bowlers bowled "body line" angles and I could hear the close-in fielder say, "let them smell the leather maan." We lost this Test by 8 wickets and my hero, Marshall, bagged a five-for in the second innings. Despite the outcome of the match, I will cherish my conversations with Marshall during the game. His fast bowling tips helped me immensely and I continue to pass on those learning to kids today.

A dream delivery

Down 0-1 the series, we travelled to Port of Spain for the third Test. In the West Indies' second innings, Kapil Dev and I shared 8 wickets. I returned figures of 3/54. While this might appear an average haul, I rate this as my best spell. The icing on the cake was getting rid of Sir Viv Richards for a duck with a bouncer. It was a dream delivery. Sir Vivian had always been an inspiration and the biggest motivation from the very beginning. Therefore, to bowl to him and eventually dismiss him was truly memorable.

The outcome of the game, however, wasn't positive. We were always on the back foot after posting 150 in response to their first innings score of 314. And requiring 431 runs to win, we managed just 213. The series was lost.

We never thought the tour was going to be easy but to lose despite battling hard was hard to stomach. But the tour changed me as a person - I met my hero in Marshall, bowled to my inspiration in Sir Vivian and faced the quickest I'd ever seen in Bishop. I also happened to meet the great Michael Holding on this tour. Incidentally, I was a vegetarian when I started my career. If I have crossed over, it was purely because Holding convinced me while citing benefits from an athleticism and fast bowling standpoint.

The final Test at Sabina Park was our last chance to salvage some pride.

Sidhu kept us aloft with a superb 116. But after he had to retire, Courtney Walsh ran riot. His 6/62 broke our back. And after centuries from Richardson and Sir Vivian, and a twin four-four from Bishop and Walsh, a comeback was improbable.

We eventually lost the Test by 7 wickets, lost the Test series 0-3 and returned home without a win. Unfortunately, this was to be my final Test match although I continued playing ODI cricket for India till the 1994-95 series against them.

As a matter of coincidence, I began my cricketing career against West Indies and as luck would have it, my last Test and ODI matches were against the Windies - forever my favourite cricket team.

Chetan Sharma is a former Indian cricketer and represented India in 23 Tests and 65 ODIs. He was the first bowler to take a hat-trick in ICC Cricket World Cup history.