At 75 for five in the first innings of the first Test at Jamaica, Eknath Solkar joined Dilip Sardesai in the middle with a mission to resurrect the Indian innings. The two Bombay players then showed remarkable grit to record a 137-run stand. During the partnership, the ball lost its shape and West Indies captain, Garry Sobers, was trying to persuade the umpires to change it. Sardesai and Solkar would join in those discussions, just to balance out Sobers’ arguments if and when the decision to change was taken. Solkar was playing and missing quite a bit during his innings. Once the umpires replaced the ball, he asked Sobers to show it to him. “What’s the point? You will play and miss anyway,” Sobers remarked. The all-rounder shot back by saying, “You play your game, we will play our game.” It was a typical combative response from a gritty cricketer.

Even after Solkar’s fall for 61, Sardesai continued to rally the innings. In Erapalli Prasanna, he found more support during a 122-run stand for the ninth wicket. Sardesai was dismissed for 212 but by then India had a competitive total on the board. They were eventually bowled out for 387.
 
Sabid Ali’s main role was to help take the shine off the ball before the spinners came into force. However, he could be more than useful with his right-arm medium pace upfront. After all, he started his Test career with a six-for in Australia. When Ajit Wadekar and his men landed in the Caribbean, Abid was the ultimate team-man, having opened the batting as well when needed. However, it was with his bowling that he put his name in the record books. During the second Test at Trinidad, Abid became the first Indian bowler to take a wicket off the first ball of the Test match.