Courtesy: Google

Courtesy: Google

On February 4, 1979, India went on to post their highest Test total at that time in a match against West Indies at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur. With the help of respective centuries by Gundappa Vishwanath, Aunshuman Gaekwad, and Mohinder Amarnath, India declared on a mammoth total of 644 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the first innings. It was India's highest Test total at that time, before they surpassed it by posting 676/7 against Sri Lanka at the same ground in December 1986.

Talking about the match, batting first, India got a great start by skipper Sunil Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan. Gavaskar got out after scoring 40 runs, while Chauhan went on to score 79 runs. After that, Gundappa Vishwanath and Aunshuman Gaekwad took charge of the innings and put up a partnership of 172 runs for the fourth wicket. Vishwanath top scored with 179 runs, while Gaekwad got out after scoring 102 runs.

india s highest test total

India posted their highest Test total vs West Indies in 1979

After Gundappa Vishwnath and Aunshuman Gaekwad laid the foundation for a big total, Mohinder Amarnath went on to become the third centurion for India as he remained unbeaten on 101* runs. Apart from that, Kapil Dev also scored 62 runs as India declared their first innings on 644/7, their highest total at that time. In reply, Faoud Bacchus came up with 250 runs as West Indies were 452/8 before the match finally ended in a draw. For India, Karsan Ghavri took four scalps, while Kapil Dev, Bhagwath Chandrasekhar, Srinivas Venkataraghavan, and Mohinder Amarnath scalped a wicket each.

The total of 644/7 now remains India’s 11th highest total in the Test format. Their highest ever Test total came against England in Chennai in December 2016. With the help of Karun Nair’s 303-run knock and 199 runs by KL Rahul, India went on to post a mammoth 759/7 in the first innings.