While West Indies’ bowlers aren’t as feared in the Test arena as they once were, they are still quite a few exceptional talents who can blow away any opposition on their day.
Once known to be a hotbed for fierce fast bowlers who struck fear in the heart of opposition batters, scoring runs, particularly in Tests, was no mean feat against West Indies’ bowlers.
Names like Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Colin Croft, and Joel Garner were considered the Four Horsemen of West Indies bowling during the 1970s and 80s.
They inspired other great bowlers like Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh who carried forward the legacy of fearsome pace bowling.
Scoring runs against such bowlers was not an easy task although some players managed to do better than others when it came to run-making against the Caribbean greats.
Here, we have a look at those players who scored the most runs for India vs West Indies in Test match cricket.
Most runs for India vs West Indies in Tests
| Player | Matches | Runs | Average | Hundreds | Fifties | Highest Score |
| Sunil Gavaskar | 27 | 2,749 | 65.45 | 13 | 7 | 236* |
| Rahul Dravid | 23 | 1,978 | 63.80 | 5 | 13 | 146 |
| VVS Laxman | 22 | 1,715 | 57.16 | 4 | 11 | 176* |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 21 | 1,630 | 54.33 | 3 | 10 | 179 |
| Dilip Vengsarkar | 25 | 1,596 | 44.33 | 6 | 7 | 159 |
| Gundappa Viswanath | 18 | 1,455 | 53.88 | 4 | 7 | 179 |
| Polly Umrigar | 16 | 1,372 | 50.81 | 3 | 10 | 172* |
| Kapil Dev | 25 | 1,079 | 30.82 | 3 | 4 | 126* |
| Mohinder Amarnath | 30 | 1,076 | 38.42 | 3 | 6 | 117 |
| Anshuman Gaekwad | 22 | 1,032 | 27.89 | 1 | 6 | 102 |
Sunil Gavaskar | 2,749 runs in 27 matches
No player relished the challenge of squaring off against West Indies’ fearsome four of Roberts, Holding, Croft, and Garner more than Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar. In an era where wearing helmets wasn’t the norm, Gavaskar used to play West Indies’ fearsome pace attack without one and excelled while doing so as his 2,749 runs in 27 matches demonstrate. Gavaskar’s run tally isn’t just the most runs by an Indian batter against the Windies but also the most by any player in the history of the game. He struck 13 hundreds and seven fifties against the Windies at an average of 65.45. It often seemed that playing the Windies brought out the best in Gavaskar, whose highest score against the Men from the Caribbean is an unbeaten 236 which came in a drawn encounter. Gavaskar, in fact, boasts three double tons against West Indies in Tests.
Rahul Dravid | 1,978 runs in 23 matches
Another Indian great who thrived while battling the Windies bowlers was Rahul Dravid. Nicknamed the Wall for his outstanding defence, Dravid enjoyed playing against West Indies and totalled 1,978 runs in 23 matches at an average of 63.80 against the Men from the Caribbean. He made a highest score of 146 against them in a drawn game in 2006 and also registered five hundreds as well as 13 half-centuries versus the Windies.
VVS Laxman | 1,715 in 22 matches
Dravid’s contemporary VVS Laxman comes in third on this list of most runs for India versus West Indies in Tests. A crafty middle-order batter who made the Test arena his own, VVS Laxman scored 1,715 in 22 matches at an average of 57.16 against West Indies. He scored four hundreds and 11 fifties against the Windies, including a highest score of 176 not out against them in a winning cause at the Eden Gardens in 2011.
Photo credit: Alamy
