Inshan Ali Test career 1971-1977

Inshan Ali debuted in the fourth Test match against India at the Kensington Oval, Barbados 1971.

The West Indies scored a mammoth 501 runs for 5 wickets declared. Captain Garry Sobers made an unbeaten 178 runs, supported by Desmond Lewis’s 88 runs, Rohan Kanhai’s 85 runs, and Charlie Davis’s 79 runs.

India replied with 347 runs, with Dilip Sardesai scoring 150 runs. Inshan Ali went wicketless for 60 runs in 20 overs. The West Indies declared their second innings on 180 runs for 6 wickets, and India was set 335 runs to win. They finished on 225 runs for 5 wickets. Sunil Gavaskar made 117 runs, and Inshan Ali had his maiden Test wicket for 65, Ashok Mankad, for eight runs. He ended the match with 1 wicket for 125 runs.

Inshan returned to the West Indies team for the second Test against New Zealand at the Queen’s Park Oval in 1972. He took 2 wickets for 92 runs in New Zealand’s first innings of 348 and 1 for 60, the wicket of Bevan Congdon for 82 runs in New Zealand’s second innings of 288 runs for 3 wickets declared.

In the West Indies’ first innings of 341 runs all out, Inshan Ali scored his highest Test score, 25 runs. In his only bowl in the third Test at Kensington Oval, Barbados, he took 1 wicket for 81 runs in New Zealand 422 runs all out.

After being left out of the team for the fourth Test match in Guyana, he was recalled for the fifth and final Test at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad and Tobago.

The West Indies scored 368 runs, with Alvin Kallicharran scoring 101 and Roy Fredericks 60. In reply, New Zealand collapsed for 162 runs as Inshan Ali had his 5 wickets for 59 runs in 26.4 overs. The West Indies made 194 in their second innings, with Vanburn Holder scoring 42. Set a target of 401 runs to win; New Zealand finished on 253 runs for 7 wickets to earn a draw. Ali toiled for 51 overs, taking 2 wickets for 99 runs, but could not repeat his first innings heroics. He had match figures of 7 wickets for 158 runs in 77.4 overs.

Inshan Ali played the first, third, and fifth Test matches against Australia in 1973. In the first Test at Sabina Park, Jamaica, he had match figures of 1 wicket for 120 runs in a drawn match. Recalled to the team for the third Test at the Queen’s Park Oval, he had returns of 3 wickets for 89 runs in Australia’s 332 runs.

He dismissed Doug Walters for 112 runs and captain Ian Chappell for eight runs. The West Indies conceded a deficit of 52 runs in the first innings bowled out for 280 runs. In Australia’s second innings, Inshan had 1 wicket for 81 runs, as Australia was dismissed for 281 runs. Set 334 runs to win, the West Indies fell short by 44 runs, dismissed for 289 runs.

In the fifth Test at the Queen’s Park Oval, in T&T, Inshan Ali took 3 wickets for 124 runs off 44 overs in Australia’s score of 419 runs for 8 declared. He took the wickets of Ian Chappell for 56 runs, John Benaud for 8 runs, and Kerry O’Keeffe for 37 runs. In Australia’s second innings of 218 runs, for 7 wickets declared, Inshan Ali took 2 wickets for 68 runs in 19 overs. In the three test matches, Inshan Ali played in the series, he took 10 wickets for 483 runs at an average of 48.3 runs per wicket.

Ali’s fourth and fifth test series was against England in 1973 and 1974. In 1973, he played the first test match at the Oval in London and took 1 wicket for 49 runs in the second innings. He did not play in the other two test matches, as the West Indies won the series 2-0. In England’s tour to the Caribbean in 1974, he played the first and fifth test matches.

Although the West Indies won the first test by 7 wickets, his impact was minimal, with a match figure of 1 wicket for 111 runs. In the fifth test at the Queen’s Park Oval, he had match figures of 4 wickets for 137 runs in a losing cause as England won by 26 runs to level the series 1-1.

Even though he took 27 wickets in the 1974 Shell Shield, he was overlooked for the same year for the India and Sri Lank tours. In the ill-fated tour to Australia in 1975, where the West Indies were hammered 5-1, he played the first test in Brisbane, taking 1 wicket in the match for 124 runs. He did not play in the remainder of the series.

He missed the next two series in 1976, at home to India and away in England. Ali returned for the fourth test against Pakistan at the Queen’s Park Oval in 1977. He had match figures of 5 wickets for 159 runs, but his efforts could not prevent Pakistan romping home to victory by 266 runs. It would be his last test match.

He played 12 tests and scored 172 runs at an average of 10.75 runs. He took 34 wickets at an average of 47.67 runs per wicket, and his strike rate was 109.3 balls per wicket. Inshan Ali passed away on June 24, 1995, from throat cancer.

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