Rise in ranks Sarwan made his
Test debut against
Pakistan at
Barbados in May 2000 – a match in which he was unbeaten in both innings including a first innings score of 84 not out. He missed scoring his maiden Test century against
South Africa in March 2001 when he was
run out for 91. His score of 78 in the second Test against
India at
Chennai in October 2002 was his fifth innings of 75+ that was not converted into a century. His maiden Test century came in his next Test series against
Bangladesh at
Dhaka. His next Test century came against
Australia at
St. John's in May 2003. With an investigation being led in 2004 by the
International Cricket Council into most of the world's international-class bowlers, Sarwan was found to be the only bowler tested who did not transgress the Laws of Cricket regarding the straightening of the arm during delivery. On 23 May 2006, Sarwan scored 115 not out in his hundredth one day international. This was the third game of a five match odi series played against India at the Warner Park Sporting Complex in
Basseterre, St. Kitts. On 23 June 2006, on his 26th birthday, while playing against India Sarwan hit six fours in an over off
Munaf Patel at
St. Kitts'
Warner Park Sporting Complex. In so doing he equalled the record of
Sandeep Patil with six fours hit off
Bob Willis from seven deliveries,
Sanath Jayasuriya with six fours hit off
James Anderson in six balls and
Chris Gayle with six fours hit off
Matthew Hoggard from six deliveries. Sarwan was dropped from the team for the second Test against Pakistan in November 2006. It was the first time in his six-year career that he had missed a game due to poor form. According to captain
Brian Lara "It wasn't designed as a drop. We just wanted to make him aware of the situation and come back stronger. We need him and we need him to take control."
Captaincy On 29 April 2007 it was announced that Sarwan was to succeed the retiring
Brian Lara as captain of the West Indies following the team's exit from the
2007 World Cup. During the second Test in the West Indies tour of England in May 2007, Sarwan injured his shoulder when he collided with a boundary fence while attempting to prevent a four. This shoulder injury ruled him out of the remainder of the tour and for a further ten months.
Post captaincy Sarwan returned to the West Indies team in 2008 for the home series against Sri Lanka, as vice-captain to
Chris Gayle. Throughout the series Sarwan scored over 50 in four consecutive innings, including a match-winning century, at an average of 77.75. He was also named man of the series for his batting feats. In the subsequent 2008 Test series against Australia, Sarwan continued his fine batting form. With Sarwan scoring a half century and a matching saving 128 in the second Test at the
Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in
North Sound,
Antigua. At the age 28 years, 228 days he became the youngest West Indian to reach the 5,000 runs milestone when he scored a century in the first Test of the 2009 home series against England at
Sabina Park in Jamaica. In scoring his 13th Test match century Sarwan equalled the record for the most centuries in the fourth innings – a record he shared until 2017 with
Sunil Gavaskar and
Ricky Ponting. He went on to notch his highest test innings score, being 291 in the first innings of the fourth test of the said series played in March 2009 at
Barbados'
Kensington Oval. Sarwan's knock equalled the highest test innings of
Vivian Richards which was also scored against England in 1976 at
The Oval in
South London.
Late career Sarwan did however lose his central contract due to poor fitness and indifferent form. West Indies coach
Ottis Gibson stated that leaving Sarwan out was a tough decision but he will make many contributions to the West Indies in the future and that he needs time to regain his form. Therefore, he wasn't selected for the tour of Sri Lanka along with regular wicket-keeper
Denesh Ramdin. He played his last international match as an ODI against
India at
The Oval on 11 June 2013. Sarwan announced his retirement from international cricket in September 2016. ==Domestic career==