Sunny, Jimmy and … er, Pochiah Krishnamurthy?

He was just a young promising opener when he debuted at Port of Spain in 1970-71 series. The deadly pace battery wasn’t all Sunil Gavaskar had to contend with: he also had a swollen finger, a knee injury and an excruciating tooth problem. Four Tests later, Gavaskar’s career record read: Runs: 774; Average: 154; Highest: 220. A dream start to a journey that ended 16 years, 30-odd centuries and a zillion runs later.

India’s 1988-89 tour party included another rookie Mumbai batsman, with one Test and 15 runs to his name. But Sanjay Manjrekar coped with the likes of Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, Ian Bishop and Winston Benjamin to finish the tour with a ton and the side’s best batting figures. And the confidence he picked up on tour saw him through the next trip, to Pakistan, where he scored a double-century.

Despite his debut in 1969, Mohinder Amarnath was just four Tests old in 1975-76 when he — along with 20-year-old Dilip Vengsarkar — came face to face with Roberts, Holding and co. The two were the finds of the series and used their experience the next time around, in 1982-3. That time the team, led by Kapil, lost 2-0 (Amarnath the top run-getter for India) but, a few months later, went on to that famous win at Lord’s.

THE MISSES

The 1988-9 series saw three batsmen — Arun Lal, WV Raman and VVS Laxman — come back tails between legs, their reputations severely tarnished. While Raman and Laxman fought their way back, the Caribbean was the end of the road for Arun Lal. The dressing-room’s loss was the commentary box’s gain.

Parthasharthy Sharma was Gavaskar’s opening partner during the 1975-76 series; he’d scored 54 and 49 against the West Indies at home, but the away experience was not on the same lines. He played 1 test, scored and never played another Test.

Pochiah Krishnamurthy was a promising keeper-batsman on the 1970-71 tour. He debuted with India’s opener at Kingston, while the fifth Test at Port of Spain happened to be his last. In between, his scores read: 10, 0, 0, 1, 20, 2.

Punjab’s Vijay Mehra was a prolific opener on the domestic circuit who went on the 1961-62 series backed by solid innings in two Tests at home against Ted Dexter’s MCC. But the West Indies proved to be a different ball game. When Nari Contractor was hit on the head by a Charlie Griffith delivery, Mehra was asked to open. The West Indies team — fresh from the Tied Test — was in full cry. It proved too much for Mehra, who averaged 21 in three Tests, with a high of 62. He played one more series before retiring.