India had already won the Test series 2-0 against the West Indies.
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Ashwin, who was promoted to No. 6 in the batting order, smashed centuries in Antigua and St Lucia while Saha contributed significant 40s in the first two Tests before scoring his maiden Test ton of 126 in the third match.
Previous to this embarrassment, two matches against England suffered from similarly freakish experiences.
India lost their no.1 Test ranking, which they had gained last week following Australia’s 0-3 loss in Sri Lanka.
A soggy outfield meant the teams couldn’t take to the field at all during the final four days of the test, despite periods of sunshine.
West Indies Cricket Board chief executive Michael Muirhead expressed his organisation’s surprise with the state of the outfield and is awaiting an explanation from the officials of the Queen’s Park Cricket Club over the circumstances that meant there was no play over the last four days of the match despite nearly continuous sunshine. In Durban, there was no play on days three, four and five of the Test between the Proteas and the Blackcaps, as the soggy outfield was deemed risky by umpires. Pakistan thus became the new no.1 Test ranked side, courtesy their 2-2 draw in England.
This is the first time Pakistan have reached the top spot in the ICC rankings since they were introduced in 2003.
It capped a remarkable rise for Misbah-ul-Haq’s team which was almost thrown out of the global arena over a spot-fixing scandal on their tour of England in 2010.
In the 157 months since the current system’s introduction Australia, (number one in three stretches totalling 81 months or over 51 percent of the time), South Africa (thrice, totalling 42 months) and India (twice, totalling 21 months) have primarily outshone.
As hosts of the Test the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board announced that they had also launched an investigation.
“We have jointly launched an investigation to determine what occurred with a view to remedying the situation so that this does not occur in the future”.
“The reports have been forwarded to Cricket South Africa (CSA) and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), who now have 14 days to provide their responses”, the ICC said. The shambolic finale will be of major concern to the WICB, given that the agreement of the Indians to play four Tests in the Caribbean was seen as a major diplomatic triumph after the abandonment of a tour of India by the West Indies in October 2014.
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The outcome of the West Indies Test against India was branded “farcical” after only 20 overs of play was possible.
