Wednesday Post

As today there is no news on the current affairs which is worth commenting on, I am going 50 years back in  history and want to share something with you. The topic I want to share with you is cricket, and it is about one test match played by India in England. Yes, Friends, I am talking about the historic test match which India played against England at Oval ground.

India- England 3^rd Test  at Oval,1971

India was touring England after defeating West Indies in West Indies in 5 match test series just a few months before they embarked on 3 test series against England. They were in an upbeat mood, as West Indies were considered to be the strongest team at that time. Under new captain Ajit Wadekar who led India to victory in West Indies, and with a very young team, India’s confidence was at its peak. In the West Indies India had found a new batting sensation in opener Sunil Gavaskar, who could handle pace very well

In the first test at Lords, India was 145 for 8 at tea on the final day, and still 38 runs needed for victory. But due to rain match could not be resumed after tea and it ended in a draw. It was the rain that saved India in 2^nd test at Old Trafford. Set to score 420 in 2^nd innings, India were 65 for 3, and then rain intervened and match ended in a draw.

At the onset of the 3^rd test at Oval  (from 19^th Aug to 24^th Aug 1971), England was really in an upbeat mood after the first 2 tests and India’s confidence was not that high but they had the determination to perform well. Snow was recalled in England’s team, after he was banned for 2 tests as a disciplinary action, for giving Gavaskar an almighty shove which sent him sprawling, with Gavaskar losing bat and somehow reaching the crease.  In this test Snow had come into the place of injured Lever.

England won the toss, the third time in the series, and batted first. Brian Luckhurst and Jameson opened the innings. When the score was 5 India got their first wicket when Luckhurst was caught by Gavaskar off the bowling of Solkar. Edrich joined Jameson and they took the score to 111 and when Edrich was caught by wicketkeeper Engineer off Bedi for 41. Next to come was  Keith Fletcher but he did not last long, and he was caught by Gavaskar off Bedi for 1 run, the score of England now was 135 for 3. The next batsman to come to the crease was  Basil D’Oliveira But when the score was 139  Jameson was run out for 82. The next batsman to come in was  England’s hard-hitting wicket-keeper Alan Knott and joined D’Oliveira and took the score to 143 then England lost their 5^th wicket, when D’Oliveira  was caught by Mankad off Chandrashekhar. Next to enter was Skipper Ray Illingworth, he and Knott took the score to 175 , and then Chandrshekhar striked and bowled him for 11 runs. Now RA Hutton joined Knott and they really tackled the Indian spin trio very well and took the score to 278 when Knott was caught and bowled by Solkar. With contribution from John Snow(3 runs), Derek Underwood (22 runs) and Price remaining not out at 1, Hutton was last to get out at 81, when he was bowled by Venktaraghavan. England were all out for 355. From Indian bowling point of view Solkar took 3 wickets for 28 runs, Bedi 2 for 120, Chandrashekhar 2 for 76 and Venkataraghvan 2 for 63.

There was no play on 2^nd day of the match due to consistent rains, and India started their first innings on the 3^rd day of the match (Saturday) with Sunil Gavaskar and Ashok Mankad opening the innings, first to go out was Mankad bowled by Price for 10, the score at the fall of 1^st wicket was 17. Second batsman to go out was Gavaskar  bowled by Snow for 6 runs ( India 21 for 2). Now Wadekar and Sardesai were at crease and batted sensibly and took the score to 114 , when Sardesai  was bowled by Illingworth for 54 runs. Next to come in was Vishwanath, but he did not last long and was also bowled by Illingworth for no score, with score standing 118 for4. Next man in was Eknath Solkar. At the score of 125 , India’s 5^th wicket fell when Wadekar was caught by Hutton off Illingworth. Now Engineer joined Solkar and they took the score to 222 when Solkar fell, caught Fletcher off D’Oliveira for 44 runs.  With contribution of 59 from Engineer, 26 from Abid Ali and 24 from Venkataraghvan, India were all out 284. From England bowlers Illingworth took 5 for 70, John Snow 2 for 68 were the lead bowlers and Price, D’Oliveira and Undertook took 1 wicket each. So England got a lead of 71 runs in 1^st innings.

By the time Indian 1^st innings was over, the match was into 4^th day. So when England came into bat for second innings, the general perception in England think tank & supporters’ mind was that with the lead of 71 runs, if England can make little over 200 runs by the end of 4th day then they have all the chances  for winning the match, as India  will find it difficult to score near 300 runs required for victory on the last day of the match. But there is an old age saying that “Man proposes and god disposes”. So by the end of day what awaits for each team has to be still seen.

Luckhurst and Jameson started the proceedings for England and took the score to 23 when Jamesson was run out for 16 runs. Edrich came in and didnot last many balls, he was clean bowled by Chandrashekhar  as he could not read his delivery and ball hit the stump. So England were 2 down for24 runs, and soon they were 3 down for 24 when Fletcher was brilliantly caught by  Solkar off the bowling of Chandrashekhar. It was splendid catch by Solkar , who was standing at silly mid on and dived fill length to take this catch. Remember friends there were no protection in those days for fielders,like helmet, Stomach guard, wrist guard etc. So England went to Lunch at 24 for 3 down. After Lunch D’Oliveira joined Luckhurst. They played cautiously for few overs as the Indian spinners were in full cry and Chandra was really becoming unplayable. So when the score was 49, this time it was Venkataraghavan who got the better of D’Oliveira, when got him caught  by a substitute fielder for 17 runs. Again it was Venkataraghavan who beat next in form batsman Knott and got him out for 1 run, caught by Solkar at silly mid on. With England at 5 down for 54, now it was time for India getting charged up, as they were aware that if they could get England all out very cheaply then at the last day, they have chance of snatching a victory. England Captain Illingworth walked in to give support to Luckhurst, who has seen five wickets falling from other end.

With half the side back in pavilion, England were in deep trouble. Their captain also did not last long and at the score of 65 , Illingworth gave a return  catch to Chandrashekhar, his individual score was 4 and team score of 65 for 6. Now England’s last recognised batsman all rounder RA Hutton come to crease and joins Luckhurst, but 6 runs later it was Luckhurst who was  mesmerised by Chandrashekhar’s bowling and gave a catch to  Venkataraghavan in slip, where he took a brilliant low catch. Next man to go to pavilion was John Snow who was caught and bowled by Chandrashekhar for no score. Now with 8 down for 72 it was just a question of time for England’s innings to fold. Ninth person to go out was Derek Underwood whose wicket  Bedi took, in the only over he bowled in England’s 2^nd innings, he got Underwood caught by Mankad, who took a good running catch. Chandrashekhar took last wicket of Price, who  could not play the Chandra’s ball and was declared LBW. So England’s innings folded for 101 runs only. It means that India had to score 173 runs for the victory.

Wadekar gave the full credit to Chandrashekhar, when he commented after the inning that he almost hyptonised the English batsmen, and I kept counting on him and he kept responding very well.

In their quest for victory, India also started very badly as Gavaskar was out LBW to Snow without scoring any runs and India 2 for 1. Next man to come in was Captain Wadekar, he and Mankad steadied the innings, but at the score of  37  India lost their 2^nd wicket when Mankad was caught by Hutton off Underwood. Dilip Sardesai walked in at no 4, he and Wadekar saw that India did not lose any further wicket and ended 4^th day at the score of 76 for 2.

Next morning India resumed their innings, and there were many Indians in the stand  for cheering their team with a hope that India will win the match. Immediately after the start of play Wadekar was run out attempting a quick single to D’oliveira before a run being added to over night score of 76. Now with 3 wickets down and still 97 runs more required for victory,  tension was becoming very high in the Indian camp and their supporters. Next man to come to crease was Vishwasnath, who along with Sardesai added valuable 48 runs , when Sardesai was caught by Knott off the bowling of Underwood for 40 runs. Next man to walk in was dependable Solkar but he did not last long and with the score at 134 he has caught and bowled by Underwood. With half the side back in pavilion and still 39 runs required for victory, India needed some Architect to steady  their innings, in comes Farooq Engineer, who started scoring  with bit ease against English bowlers, he and Vishwanath took the score to 170, when Vishwanath got out caught Knott bowled Luckhurst for well played 33 runs. With 3 runs required for victory, Abid Ali Walks in, and it was destined that he scored the winning run with the boundary.

The celebrations that followed were wild. Engineer and Abid Ali were swept up in the air by the delighted Indian crowd that had rushed onto the field. Incredibly enough, Wadekar was fast asleep – he was woken by Ken Barrington, the England manager and told that they had won. His first reaction was a deadpan “I always knew we would win.”

In many ways, 1971 marked a turning point for Indian cricket. Till then, supporters found solace in lion-hearted individual performances or a fight to the opposition. But, series wins in West Indies and England injected a self-belief into Indian cricket. It was an acknowledgement that they too were talented, that they too could also go toe to toe against the big guns…and win.

This test match in cricketing history is known as Chandrashekhar’s match. I remember a one liner which I read long time back on this test match, which said

WHEN CHANDRA RISES,SUN SETS ON BRITISH EMPIRE.

Absolutely True. No other one liner can explain Chandra’s performance in  better way, which immortalised him.

Anil Malik

Mumbai, India

9^th June 2021