And while the miraculous turn-of-events was taking place at a packed EdenGardens in Kolkata, one cricketing legend was over the moon at a television studio in neighbouring Pakistan.
Raza credited Trinbago Knight Riders credited McCullum for defining a clear role for him.
England wrapped up a comprehensive 232-run victory over West Indies in the third Test in St Lucia on Tuesday after home batsman Roston Chase made a century but got little help.
Kirk Edwards and Darren Bravo scored half centuries as West Indies battled to save the first Test against New Zealand but were still 228 runs from making the hosts bat again at the close of play on the third day in Dunedin on Thursday.
England Twenty20 captain Stuart Broad has said that he does not know if he will 'carry on' following their defeat against South Africa, which has sent his side out of the World T20 tournament.
West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo heaped praise on India and Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kolhi and equated him with legendary footballer Cristiano Ronaldo.
"Enough is enough", said West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo as he opened up on the raging issue of racism and called for "respect and equality" for black people, who have faced discrimination for years. Bravo joined the likes of his former captain Darren Sammy and Chris Gayle in denouncing racism in the wake of African-American George Floyd's killing at the hands of a white police officer in the United States.
West Indies have dropped batsman Lendl Simmons from their Twenty20 World Cup squad owing to a back injury, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) said on Saturday. "The 31-year-old right-handed top-order batsman will remain in Trinidad to continue his rehabilitation," the WICB said. "A replacement player will be named in the coming days," it said in a statement. Simmons, who has played 34 T20Is with a top score of 77, joins all-rounder Kieron Pollard on the sidelines after a knee injury forced him to decline signing a player contract for the tournament in India. Spinner Sunil Narine, who is still working to fix his illegal bowling action, and Darren Bravo, who has opted to focus on the longer formats of cricket, withdrew from the West Indies squad last month.
Fast bowler Edwards, 39, has been recalled for potentially his first match for West Indies in more than eight years.
Australia and West Indies have played just six ODIs since the World Cup Super League began last year.
All-rounder Dwayne Bravo has replaced Darren Sammy as West Indies' one-day international captain and will lead the team in next month's Champions Trophy in England.
Shikhar Dhawan set the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur alight as India beat the West Indies by five wickets in the final One-day International and clinched the three-match series 2-1 on Wednesday. After the home side restricted the visitors to 263 for 5, the dashing opener scored a breezy 119 off 95 deliveries to overhaul the target with 23 balls to spare.
Pakistan piled up 452 runs and reduced West Indies to 106 for four to take control of the second Test in Abu Dhabi on the second day on Saturday.
West Indies have replaced wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin with Shane Dowrich for the four-Test series at home to India.
The West Indies tasted success for the first time on their New Zealand tour on Thursday when they scraped home by two wickets in the first One-Day International in Auckland. After dismissing New Zealand for a modest 156 in 42.1 overs, the West Indies made hard work the target for the loss of eight wickets in 27.3 overs.
Chris Woakes took 5 for 19 as England claimed a comfortable nine-wicket victory in their first official World Cup warm-up match after dismissing a hapless West Indies for 122 in 29.3 overs on Monday.
At the close, after 75 overs were squeezed in around two lengthy rain interruptions, the West Indies were 207 for six with Denesh Ramdin on 23 and Carlos Brathwaite not out 35 after winning the toss.
West Indies were bowled out for 271 in their first innings after Australia pacer James Pattison ended Darren Bravo's stubborn resistance at tea on Day 3 of the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Monday.
Flighting the ball has always been considered a hallmark of a good spinner but India's modern-day left-arm tweaker Akshar Patel says he doesn't even think of tossing the ball and banks on bowling flatter through the air.
West Indies pace legend Andy Roberts slammed batsman Shimron Hetmyer for opting out of the England tour because of health concerns amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with senior pro Darren Bravo, Hetmyer pulled out of the tour of UK and forced the Roger Harper-led selection committee to make some last-minute changes.
Marlon Samuels and Darren Bravo frustrated Pakistan's bowlers with a defensive and patient batting display on a slow pitch but West Indies still trailed by 264 runs at the end of the third day of the first day-night Test in Dubai on Saturday.
Earlier, the West Indies chose to bat first after winning the toss and rode on opener Lewis's effort which included nine sixes and four boundaries to post a challenging total although the hosts were poised for an even bigger score at one point.
A fine all-round bowling display saw Trinbago Knight Riders win the battle of the unbeaten teams and go to the top of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) table. Glenn Phillips was the only standout for the Jamaica Tallawahs as the power-hitters struggled for fluency, and Sunil Narine's second consecutive 50 did the bulk of the work even as the Knight Riders took their time about the chase.
Holders West Indies sailed into the World Twenty20 semi-finals after Dwayne Bravo's power-hitting and Samuel Badree's lethal spin bowling fashioned their comprehensive 84-run victory over 2009 champions Pakistan on Tuesday.
Still recovering from a hamstring injury, swashbuckling batsman Chris Gayle was on Wednesday left out of the West Indies' 15-member squad for the One-Day International series against India next month.
West Indies wrapped up a 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh before lunch on the fifth and final day of the first Test in St Vincent on Tuesday.
All-rounder Darren Sammy will lead the 15-member West Indies cricket team for the tour of India, starting next month.
Kyle Jamieson took his second five-wicket haul as New Zealand ripped through the West Indies batting lineup to leave them in dire straits on 124-8 at the close of play of the second day of the second Test at the Basin Reserve on Saturday.
West Indies legend Brian Lara has called for the return of stars Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo for next month's one-day international tri-series against Australia and South Africa. Both Pollard and Bravo have been overlooked by selectors for the Windies ODI side since the abandoned tour of India in October 2014, despite still being chosen for Twenty20 International honours. "In terms of the tri-nations, I think it's going to be a pretty exciting tri-nations series," Lara said on Wednesday. "And hopefully we can have the likes of Pollard and Bravo - some guys who have not played that form of the game (recently) - back in the team because they are integral of any West Indies team. "Just to have them for the T20 version I think is doing a disservice to the West Indies cricket." Bravo was part of the Windies' World T20 title-winning XI, while Pollard was initially selected in the squad for the tournament before being forced to pull out due to his continued recovery from a knee injury suffered in South Africa's domestic T20 competition last November. However under the West Indies Cricket Board regulations, neither player is eligible for the tournament after failing to participate in January's domestic Super50 competition.
Uncapped Evin Lewis has been named to replace the injured Lendl Simmons in the West Indies squad for the World Twenty20 in India. The experienced Simmons was ruled out of the tournament due to a back injury. "The 24-year-old left-handed batsman will join the team ahead of the start of the global event," the West Indies Cricket Board said in a statement. Lewis has represented Trinidad & Tobago in the Caribbean T20 and the Champions League and impressed chairman of selectors Clive Lloyd, who led West Indies to two 50-over World Cup triumphs. "Evin Lewis a young and exciting batsman who we believe he will fit into the team set-up very well. He has the ability to perform at this level of the game," Lloyd said. "His selection is in keeping with our policy to give exposure to young, talented players we believe will help to carry West Indies cricket forward," he added. All-rounder Kieron Pollard was ruled out of the World Twenty20 due to a knee injury, spinner Sunil Narine is still working to fix his illegal bowling and all-rounder Darren Bravo has opted to focus on the longer formats of the game.
A fine innings of 143 from Ian Bell helped England to recover from a terrible start and finish the first day of the first Test against West Indies on 341 for five in Antigua on Monday.
Kieron Pollard was recalled to the West Indies squad announced on Wednesday for next month's triangular One-day series against Australia and South Africa.
The West Indies trailed England by 244 runs at the close of the second day of the first Test in Antigua on Tuesday after Shivnarine Chanderpaul applied the brakes to any potential batting slump
South Africa opener Dean Elgar was on Monday ruled out of the third Test against India as he suffered concussion after being hit by a bouncer from pacer Umesh Yadav.
West Indies piled on the misery for Bangladesh by ending the third day of the second Test in Gros Islet, Saint Lucia, with a huge 427-run lead with six second innings wickets remaining.
India clinched a series win over the West Indies after pacer Prasidh Krishna tore through the tourists' top order on Wednesday, taking four wickets to lead India to a 44-run victory in the second ODI.
The West Indies batsmen crumbled late on Sunday to leave their team teetering at 91-6 and staring at another humiliating defeat at the close of day two of the second Test against Australia.
Manchester City's stellar season gathered yet more momentum as the runaway English Premier League leaders reached the League Cup semi-finals with a penalty shootout victory at Leicester City.
West Indies will play three-match T20I series before two Tests against New Zealand starting on December 3 in Hamilton. The first T20I will be played in Auckland on November 27.
The threat of West Indies being forced to field a second string side at the World Twenty20 was averted on Sunday when 12 of 13 players in the original squad signed the contracts which had caused a standoff with the board.
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