Gavaskar was no angel : Ponting

The war of words never seems to end. Now it's Australia captain Rickey Ponting lashing out at Sunil Gavaskar.

"Sunny was no angel in his playing days", commented Ponting referring to an incident in the 1981 India vs Australia Test, when Gavaskar walked out protesting an lbw decision.

While Ponting pointed out Gavaskar in particular, the Aussie captain also lashed out at the 'hypocrisy' of many former cricket legends who he thinks expect current cricketers to behave in a certain way, while their own behaviour and talk during their playing days was less than exemplary.

Ponting was worried that over the last 10 years a certain image was getting formed of the Australian cricketers - that they walked onto the field with an intention of having a few words with the opposition.

He is worried alright, but instead of lashing out at Gavaskar, Ponting would do better to rein in himself and his colleagues if he wants this image to change. Only yesterday, Daniel Vettori just ahead of the Australia - New Zealand series called Ponting the most aggressive person on the cricket field who was always 'spoiling for a fight'. Vettori is surely no former cricketer, Mr. Ponting.

Chak De India

Kumble scored a century, every single Indian batsman made it to the double digits, Matt Prior gave away more byes than any wicket-keeper has in the last 30 years, Dhoni fired big and India piled up a mammoth 664 at the Oval. What's more, England have lost one of their openers already and things don't look too good for the home side. India have all but won the series. Can they emulate 1986 and make it 2-0?
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King Khan is in London for the promo of his soon-t0-be released "Chak De India". I captured this video of my telly: Gautam Bhimani got hold of SRK and Sunny somewhere in London, and hear the two masters as they form a mutual admiration club.

India's Test Cricket Victories Abroad - Part 2

Since the first post of this series on India's test wins abroad, the Indian team has improved upon its miserable overseas record posting an emphatic win at Nottingham. I was surprised that not a single commentator on Star Cricket, including the likes of Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar made a mention of the fact that India was playing its 200th Overseas Test - that small but glaring omission when contrasted with much discussion and news surrounding Sachin's 11,000 runs points to the Indian cricket fan's obsession with individual feats and records.

I remember the awe and pride with which the elders in my home used to discuss the feats of Salim Durrani and Eknath Solkar - his catches and the sixers he hit for the galleries, not refraining from poking fun at Gavaskar's reluctance to 'get going'. While Sunny and then later Ravi Shastri and for some time Rahul Dravid were made fun of by 'such cricket fans', they worshipped Solkar, Srikkanth, Sehwag and for quite some time Sachin before things changed. Now, i'm no critic of the movers n shakers, but the fact remains that Sunny did more for Indian cricket than did Solkar. Only today, I saw Sunny making an apt point in the Star Cricket Commentary Box: "I was happier when my innings was applauded by my dressing room rather than the crowd."

7. Continuing with our series on India's test wins abroad, we now move to Victory # 7, where one of the heroes of our victory was none other than Sunil Gavaskar. Chasing a mammoth 406, it was the combined patience of Gavaskar, Amarnath and Vishwanath which saw India home. The trio took their own sweet time, especially Jimmy who took a good 440 minutes to compile his 85. The magnitude of this chase can be gauged by the fact that it took a very long 27 years for the record to be broken! The batters were ably supported by the spinners, with Chandra taking 6 wickets in the first innings and Venkat 3 in the second.

West Indies: 359 & 271, India: 228 & 406/4. Ground: Queen's Park Oval, Port-of-Spain, 7-12 Apr 1976

In the larger context of the history of Test Cricket, this match would be remembered for another very important reason. This match marked the beginning of WI's complete dependence on pace, a strategy which would reap them huge dividends in the next decade and more. Remarked Clive Lloyd, "Spin is a luxury I am ready to dispense with."

8. The next win came in the New Year Test at the MCG. On the morning of 4th January 1978, the Australian tail tried its best to stretch India. But it was a case of too little, too late; the damage had been done the previous day as the spin duo of Chandra and Bedi ripped apart Simpson and Co., with Chandra doing the maximum damage. He finished with a pair he is unlikely to ever forget: 52 for 6 in both innings. Bedi claimed 6 of the remaining 8. Sunil Gavaskar scored yet another century and there were important contributions again from the men who did it at Trinidad - Vishy and Amarnath.

India: 256 & 343, Australia: 213 & 164. Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground, 30th December 77 - 4th Jan 1978

Did i mention that this was India's first test win against Australia in Australia, exactly 3 decades since India's first test in Australia. ( Playing in Brisbane against Bradman's Invincibles, the entire team, batting twice failed to overtake Bradman's 1st innings score of 185. India were dismissed for 58 and 98.)

9. That last test we discussed was the 3rd test of a 5 match rubber. Australia had won the first two and the series now stood at 2-1. In the 4th test at the SCG, Bobby Simpson, the Aus captain won the toss and chose to bat. In less than 50 overs, his team surrendered against the guiles of Chandra and Bedi, for a paltry 131. In reply, Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan provided India with a solid opening partnership, at one time threatening to overtake the Aussie score on their own, before they were both dismissed in quick succession around the 100 run mark. However Vishwanath, Vengsarkar and Karsan Ghavri rose to the occasion and India took a massive lead of 265 runs. Australia batted more purposefully in the second innings but they fell short and India won the match by an innings and 2 runs. The series was now tantalisingly tied at 2-2, one match remaining.

Australia: 131 & 263, India: 396 for 8 declared. Ground: Sydney Cricket Ground, 7-12 January 1978

The next match turned out to be a thriller with India taking a slender lead in the first innings. But the rare away failure of B.S. Chandrashekhar who failed to take a single wicket in the second innings cost India the match and the series. However, these 3 victories, beginning with the 406 run chase at Trinidad heralded the decline of Australia's supremacy at the top of world cricket. Clive Lloyd's West Indies , which had now dispensed with the luxury of spin, was getting ready to rule supreme - with the most fearsome pace battery ever.

10. Both Chandra and Bedi retired from tests in 1979, bringing to a close world cricket's most glorious era of spin bowling. Fortunately for India, a young man excelling with the cricket ball, though in a wholly different way, begun his career a few month before the spin duo brought theirs to an end. This man, Kapil Dev Nikhanj, who would be later voted as 'India's Cricketer of the Century' did something almost unthinkable of in the Australian summer of 1980-81. For the first time ever a pacer would lead India to victory in Australia, demolishing them in the second innings of the 3rd Test for just 83. Kapil's second innings bowling figures read 16.4 - 4 - 28 - 5 . Kapil had bagged a fiver in the 1st Test at Sydney too, but this was more special. It gave India a rare test win abroad, and what's more, it meant India didn't lose the series.

India: 237 & 324, Australia: 419 & 83 Ground: MCG, Melbourne, 7-11 February 1981

Of course, Gavaskar and Vishwanath too played very important roles, underlining the importance of this duo to Indian cricket. While Gavaskar got his due importance, his brother-in-law Vishy is often forgotten.

11. From 1981 to 1986, Indian cricket had its most memorable run in popular imagination with Kapil's Devils leading the team to a most unexpected World Cup Victory at Lord's in the summer of 1983. If that crown was described as a fluke, the Benson & Hedges World Championship win in 1985 was anything but that. Led by Gavaskar, India won the cup comprehensively, not losing a single match.

Surprisingly, India's ascendancy in Limited Overs Cricket was accompanied by miserable failures on the test front. In the 25 away tests that India played since the MCG victory, the team failed to win even one. This 5 year long drought finally ended at Lord's in June 1986. Spin had truly made space for pace in Indian cricket's scheme of things. While skipper Kapil himself took 5 wickets in the match, his pace partners and Haryana team-mate Chetan Sharma wreaked the maximum damage on the English. Sharma took a fiver in the first innings dismissing 4 of the top 5 English batsmen. Putting thing in perspective is the fact that the English spinners took more wicket than the Indian! Yet another difference in this win was that India did it without any major contribution from Gavaskar. (Vishy was already gone by then) India's batting hero at Lord's was Dilip Vengsarkar, who scored a fine 126 in India's first essay.

England: 294 & 180, India: 341 & 136-5 Ground: Lord's, 6 - 10 June 1986

This was the 1st of the 3 test series and India were now up 1-0.

12. That English loss at Lord's cost David Gower his captaincy. Replacing him was Mike Gatting, who would have his moment of glory against India next year, but not immediately. This was going to be Indian cricket's moment of glory, Indian Test Cricket's pinnacle of success. The chief architects of the Indian win at Leed's were again Dilip Vengsarkar and the pacers. Roger Binny finished the match with 7 wickets, but a description of this match would be incomplete without a mention of the young spinner who decimated the English side in the second innings. Maninder Singh claimed 4 for 26 and England were dismissed for a mere 128. India won the match by a huge margin of 279 runs and claimed the series 2-0.

India: 272 & 237, England: 102 & 128 . Ground: Headingley, Leed's . 19 -23 June 1986

Mention must also be made of another new skill-set that contributed to this famous win - for the first time the Indian team comprised a number of players who were adept at making contributions with both the bat and the bowl. The all-round skills of Kapil Dev, Roger Binny, Madan Lal and Ravi Shastri gave the team a fine balance. While these all-round skills had already brought home laurels in the ODI format, these was the first time that they succeeded in the biggest test - Tests Abroad.

India's Overseas Test Cricket Victories - Part 1

It's sad enough - the scope of this post, the fact that it's possible to discuss every single of India's overseas test wins in a series of a few posts. Did you know that in the 75 years since India played their first cricket test, we have won just 28 tests out of home! And yes, that includes our wins against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Did you know that the current test, the 2nd India-England match being played at Trent Bridge is India's 200th test-match overseas? Fortunately enough, it looks like this 2nd centenary will end on a happy note.

India's overseas Test Cricket Record (until the beginning of the Trent Bridge Test)

Played: 199, Won: 28, Lost: 84, Drawn: 87

Yet, and probably that's why, each one of this wins was special. Here's the 1st part on this series on Indian Cricket's glorious moments abroad.

1. The 1st away win took a decade and a half to come. It was in the 1st test of the1967/68 tour to New Zealand that India recorded its maiden test victory. Nawab of Pataudi Jr., widely believed to be India's best ever captain had been captain for almost 7 years then, when the historic moment came at Carisbrook, Dunedin.

Batting first, New Zealand piled up 350 only to be overtaken by India, though by just 9 runs. It was India's bowling and fielding in the 2nd innings that proved decisive. Prasanna scalped 6 wickets and there were 2 run-outs including that of NZ captain Barry Sinclair, who may not have then realized that his test career was fast drawing to a close. Prasanna's stars on the other hand, were on the ascendancy - he was to return to this country eight years later to record his best bowling figures of 8 for 76. That match, as you will see later, was to be the maiden test victory for yet another Indian captain.

NZ: 350 & 208, India: 359 & 200/5. Ground: Carisbrook, Dunedin. 15-20 Feb 1968

2. Unlike the first win which took 15 years, the second one came quicker - in 15 days. The series was level at 1-1, New Zealand having won the second test. Prasanna came to the party again, taking 9 wickets in the match. He was ably supported by Bapu Nadkarni (of the maiden overs record fame) who dismissed 6 NZ batsmen in the 2nd innings. Ajit Wadekar scored a match winning 143 and India went up 2-1.

NZ: 186 & 199, India: 327 & 59/2. Ground: Basin Reserve, Wellington, 29 Feb - 4 Mar

3. This was to be Rusi Surti's match, whose all-round skills helped India record its first back-to-back test wins outside of home and more importantly it sealed the series in India's favour - India's first test series win overseas. Surti scored a total of 127 runs in the match, with a 99 in the second innings - a score he could never improve upon in his short test career. The all-rounder also took 4 wickets and alongwith Prasanna, Bedi and Nadkarni dismissed NZ for sub-150 scores twice.

India: 252 & 261/5, NZ: 101 & 140. Ground: Eden Park, Auckland. 7-12 Mar 1968

On this tour of Australia & NZ, Rusi Surti scored more runs than anyone else - a total of 967 runs and he also took 42 wickets. Unfortunately for India, Surti didn't play for long for India, prefering instead to provide his services to Queensland.

4. Sunil Manohar Gavaskar made his test debut on 6th March 1971 at Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and didn't take long to stamp his class. His pair of fifties in his debut match, a century by Dileep Sardesai and the wizardry of Prasanna, Venkatraghavan and Bedi helped India chalk up a rather easy win - India's first test victory in the West Indies, and 4th overseas.

West Indies: 214 & 261, India: 261 & 125/3. Ground: Queen's Park Oval, Trinidad. 6th Mar - 10th March 1971

5. India's 5th overseas success can also be described as India's first come-from-behind win outside home. Having conceded a 74 run lead, India bounced back led by Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, arguably India's biggest match winner overseas. (42 wickets in 5 tests) The English batters were bamboozled into submission by Chandra who returned with 2nd innings figures of 6-38. England were bowled out for a meagre 101, giving India a chase of 174. Gavaskar got out for a duck, but skipper Ajit Wadekar saw to it that India reach home safely. His unbeaten 45 was supported by Sardesai's 40 and useful innings from Vishy and Engineer.

24 years and 9 days since achieving its freedom from England, India had turned the tables on its masters in the imperialist's favourite sport. It took a long time coming, but it had - and the speed of the rise of India's fortunes and England's decline in the game would only gain momentum in the next couple of decades. The shakcles had been truly broken and what better venue to do it than London.

England: 355 & 101, India: 281 & 174/6. Ground: Kennington Oval, London. 19-24 August 1971

6. Eight years after leading India's efforts at their first overseas win, Prasanna returned to the land of his former exploits. Sunil Gavaskar was now the captain of India, and in the 1st test of this 1976 series debuted 2 men who were to play long and important innings for Indian cricket: Dilip Vengsarkar and Syed Kirmani. Both had rather forgettable debuts; wicket-keeper Kirmani not being a part of even a single dismissal (Only 9 more times would that happen in a career spanning 10 years). It was however the 3rd debutant who made a stronger impact on the immediate proceedings. Surinder Amarnath, coming in first down and Gavaskar compiled a match winning 204 run partnership. Both scored fine centuries and India took a lead of 148 runs.

Prasanna rocked the Kiwi boat in the 2nd innings, taking 8 for 76, his career best. Eight years back, Prasanna's wiles had turned the match decisively in India's favour. Eight years later, the master's wizardry sealed the match for India again. For captain Gavaskar, this success must have been the sweetest - it was his maiden win as captain of India.

Newzealand: 266 & 215, India: 414 & 71/2. Ground: Eden Park, Auckland. 24-28 January 1976

For Part 2 of India's Overseas Test Cricket Victories, click here.

Sunny at Lord's

Sunny's sense of humour is going from bad to worse. Look at Gavaskar's imagination when Anderson scalped Zaheer to close India's innings at Lord's a little earlier today.

" He has take a fiver; a Michelle Pfeiffer."

You can forgive the occasional fall in standard, but ever since this test started, I've been hearing the most ridiculous of attempted jokes by our man. Why doesn't close friend Ravi have a quiet word with him ?!