West Indian cricket team in India and Sri Lanka in 1978–79

The West Indies cricket team, captained by Alvin Kallicharran, toured India and Sri Lanka from November 1978 to February 1979 and played a six-match Test series against the India national cricket team. India won the series 1–0. In Sri Lanka, the West Indians played two internationals against the Sri Lanka national cricket team which had not then achieved Test status; therefore, the internationals played at the Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium and the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, both in Colombo, are classified as first-class matches. India were captained by Sunil Gavaskar and Sri Lanka by Anura Tennekoon.It was first test series win for India at home against West Indies^[1]

Test series summary

First Test

1–6 December 1978 (5-day match) Scorecard

India	v	West Indies
424 (137 overs) SM Gavaskar 205 (342) VA Holder 4/94 (27 overs)		493 (161 overs) AI Kallicharran 187 (315) BS Chandrasekhar 5/116 (43 overs)
224/2 (84.5 overs) CPS Chauhan 84 (188) ST Clarke 1/53 (16 overs)

Match drawn Wankhede Stadium, Bombay Umpires: SN Hanumantha Rao and B Satyaji Rao

• West Indies won the toss and elected to field.
• 4 December was taken as a rest day.

Second Test

15–20 December 1978 (5-day match) Scorecard

West Indies	v	India
437 (140 overs) SFAF Bacchus 96 BS Bedi 3/98 (29 overs)		371 (116.2 overs) AD Gaekwad 87 ST Clarke 5/126 (34.2 overs)
200/8 (82 overs) HA Gomes 82 KD Ghavri 5/51 (24 overs)

Match drawn M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore Umpires: MI Ghouse and S Kishen

• West Indies won the toss and elected to bat.
• 18 December was taken as a rest day.
• There was no play on the final day.
• MD Marshall (WIN) made his Test debut.

Third Test

29 December 1978–3 January 1979 (5-day match) Scorecard

India	v	West Indies
300 (104.3 overs) SM Gavaskar 107 (249) N Phillip 4/64 (22 overs)		327 (117.4 overs) AB Williams 111 S Venkataraghavan 4/55 (33 overs)
361/1d (93 overs) SM Gavaskar 182* (264) ST Clarke 1/104 (28 overs)		197/9 (105.1 overs) DA Murray 66 KD Ghavri 4/46 (23 overs)

Match drawn Eden Gardens, Calcutta Umpires: SN Hanumantha Rao and PR Punjabi

• India won the toss and elected to bat.
• 1 January was taken as a rest day.
• MV Narasimha Rao (IND) made his Test debut.

Fourth Test

12–16 January 1979 (5-day match) Scorecard

West Indies	v	India
228 (72.5 overs) AI Kallicharran 98 (155) Kapil Dev 4/38 (14 overs)		255 (83.1 overs) GR Viswanath 124 (237) N Phillip 4/48 (22 overs)
151 (45.5 overs) HA Gomes 91 S Venkataraghavan 4/43 (16.5 overs)		125/7 (46.2 overs) GR Viswanath 31 N Phillip 3/37 (15 overs)

India won by 3 wickets Madras Cricket Club Ground, Madras Umpires: JD Ghosh and S Kishen

• West Indies won the toss and elected to bat.
• 15 January was taken as a rest day.
• The match was scheduled for five days but completed in four.
• DD Parsana (IND) and HS Chang (WIN) made their Test debuts.

Fifth Test

24–29 January 1979 (5-day match) Scorecard

India	v	West Indies
566/8d (142.2 overs) Kapil Dev 126* (124) ST Clarke 3/139 (36 overs)		172 (56.4 overs) HA Gomes 40 KD Ghavri 3/54 (15 overs)
		179/3 (f/o) (58 overs) SFAF Bacchus 61 BS Chandrasekhar 2/32 (15 overs)

Match drawn Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, Delhi Umpires: MI Ghouse and KB Ramaswami

• India won the toss and elected to bat.
• 26 January was taken as a rest day.

Sixth Test

2–8 February 1979 (6-day match) Scorecard

India	v	West Indies
644/7d (189.4 overs) GR Viswanath 179 RR Jumadeen 3/137 (45.4 overs)		452/8 (148.1 overs) SFAF Bacchus 250 KD Ghavri 4/118 (31 overs)

Match drawn Modi Stadium, Kanpur Umpires: PR Punjabi and B Satyaji Rao

• India won the toss and elected to bat.
• 5 February was taken as a rest day.
• There was no play on the fifth day.