Sunil
Gavaskar’s arrival was indicative of the fact that Indian cricket had come of
age. The spin quartet of Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, Srinivas
Venkataraghavan and Bishen Singh Bedi were at the height of their powers. Gavaskar
showed that fast bowling could not only be tackled but also scored off, in a
prolific if not dominant fashion. Before him, Indian batsmen, with some notable
exceptions, had the dubious reputation of stepping away to leg when confronted
with genuine pace, and floundering against swing. Gavaskar changed it all.
There
was a new captain at the helm, Ajit Wadekar, on that path-breaking tour of the
Caribbean in 1971, ending at least for the time being the Pataudi era which had
also begun in the West Indies nine years
earlier. The signs were ominous as India
won the second Test at Port of Spain
by 7 wickets. It was India’s
first victory over the West Indies in six
series, home and away, and helped clinch the rubber, with the other four Tests
drawn. Gavaskar scored 65 and 67 not out on debut, and gave solid starts in
both innings along with Bombay
(now Mumbai) colleague Ashok Mankad.
Two
other Bombay stars made it a habit of pulling India out of
troubled waters. In the first Test at Kingston,
with India
tottering at 75 for five, Dilip Sardesai (212) and Eknath Solkar (61) put on
137 runs to help raise a respectable total of 387. With no play on the first
day, the follow-on could be enforced in the four-day Test with a lead of 150
runs, and Wadekar in his maiden Test as captain inflicted this ignominy on the
hosts. The ageing Rohan Kanhai and skipper Garfield Sobers brought back
memories of their halcyon days in a match-saving fourth-wicket partnership of
173 runs. Kanhai scored 56 and 158 not out, and Sobers 44 and 93. It seemed
that the experienced middle-order would have to see the West
Indies through, for the bowling was depleted, with Sobers having
to bowl long stints.
It
was not to be. Sobers and Kanhai did not fire in the second Test, and Clive
Lloyd was a disappointment through the series. India won the Test with ease,
heralding one of the happiest phases in their history, and marking the
beginning of the end of Sobers’ days as leader. The brilliant side that he had
inherited from Worrell, and which flowered under him in the mid-sixties, had
all but disintegrated. In that triumph at Port of Spain,
after Gavaskar’s promising debut, once again Sardesai (112) and Solkar (55)
added 114 for the fifth wicket to give India a handsome first innings
lead. Then as Wadekar, in a master-stroke, brought on the tall left-arm spinner
Salim Durrani who castled Lloyd (15) and Sobers (0), India were on the road to victory.
Gavaskar ultimately brought up the win in the company of Abid Ali.
That
was the point when Indian cricket earned its self-respect, and emerged from the
shadows onto the world stage. The man to show the way was the little opener.
Rarely has one man done so much to change the fortunes of a nation’s sport.
Inevitably, Gavaskar’s maiden Test century came in the next innings. He scored
116, once again laying a solid foundation to the Indian innings along with
Mankad, and helping India
take the first innings lead. It took an unbroken 170-run fourth-wicket stand
between Charlie Davis and Sobers, unbeaten with 125 and 108 respectively, to
save the day for the West Indies. Sobers’
declaration provided the opportunity to Gavaskar to score his third sixty. This
time he clocked up an unbroken century stand with Mankad, worth 123 when stumps
were finally drawn.
The
only innings in which Gavaskar failed in the series was at Bridgetown when he was caught at mid-wicket
off debutant paceman Uton Dowe for 1. Yet again Sardesai (150) and Solkar (65)
retrieved the situation, this time from an even more abysmal 70 for six, faced
with a huge West Indies score of 501 for five declared. Sobers had scored a
monumental unbeaten 178 and put on 167 for the fourth wicket with Davis. On this occasion
Sardesai and Solkar were associated in a 186-run partnership. The tailenders
held on with Sardesai to save the follow-on. Sobers set India a target
of 335 to win in a little over five hours. The run chase was never on and
Gavaskar, in his own words, played “purely a defensive innings” of 117 not out,
though he did fire a few rousing shots including a hooked six off Dowe. The
Test was saved.
On
the eve of the six-day final Test, again at Trinidad,
Gavaskar developed severe toothache and spent a sleepless night. He had to wait
for his troublesome tooth to be extracted till the Test was over and was denied
pain-killers even at night on the plea that they would make him drowsy during
play. Mankad had fractured his right wrist fending off a Dowe snorter in the
second innings at Bridgetown, and his
replacement Kenia Jayantilal broke his thumb in the intervening match at Dominica. As a
result Abid Ali accompanied Gavaskar at the top of the order. Sobers, under
pressure to square the series, opened the bowling, sending down a torrid spell.
Abid Ali fell for 10 and Wadekar for 28. Gavaskar and Sardesai then put on 122,
the little opener batting through the pain to score 124.
Sobers
was indeed a determined man. He hit up 132, putting on 183 for the fifth wicket
with Davis
(105). West Indies piled up 526, a lead of
166. The pressure was on India.
Gavaskar was now weak and worn out, still in pain, unable to eat or sleep
properly, and having fielded for long hours in hot and humid conditions. Sobers
was again sharp with the new ball, trapping Abid Ali early. Wadekar, though,
helped Gavaskar add 148 runs.
The
battle lines were drawn on the fifth day as Gavaskar soldiered on. He completed
his second century of the Test to a huge ovation, with some of the spectators
invading the pitch. He began the final day on 180, in very poor physical
condition. And when he cover-drove Dowe to bring up his double hundred, all
hell broke loose. The delirious crowd hoisted him high and literally played
around with the little fellow. It was only the second time in Test history,
after Doug Walters’ 242 and 103 against the West Indies
in 1968-69, that a hundred and double hundred had been scored in the same game.
Gavaskar had progressed to 220 when he finally chopped a ball on to his stumps.
The next highest was Wadekar’s 54. Now at last Gavaskar could get his tooth
extracted. It was a painstaking effort, literally, that ensured a landmark
series triumph for the country.
The
West Indies needed 262 to win with time
running out. In the end their ninth-wicket pair hung on precariously to eke out
a draw. Such was Gavaskar’s memorable, and phenomenal, initiation in Test
cricket. No one had scored so many runs, 774, on first appearance. That was in
just four Tests, and his average of 154.80 would have made Bradman proud. The
entire cricketing world was now talking about this 21-year-old. Over the next
sixteen years Gavaskar earned the admiration and respect of players, critics
and fans alike, and came to be rated as one of the greatest opening batsmen
ever.
It
might not have been a top-class West Indies bowling attack and Sobers may have
dropped him on a couple of occasions, but Gavaskar displayed a wonderful
technique, a wide range of strokes, patience, determination, resilience and a
tremendous will to battle on in the face of acute physical discomfort. Surely,
this little young man was out of the ordinary.
(Author Indra Vikram Singh can be contacted
on email singh_iv@hotmail.com).
Don’s CenturyPublished
in India by Sporting Links
ISBN
978-81-901668-5-0
Fully
illustrated
Paperback
French Fold 11 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
Weight
480 grams
188
pages
Available
on Amazon at an attractive price:
https://www.amazon.in/dp/8190166859
Indra
Vikram Singh's other books available on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.in/s?k=Indra+Vikram+Singh&i=stripbooks&rh=p_6%3AA3HSV0N9AV7NOK&dc&qid=1602408830&rnid=1318474031&ref=sr_nr_p_6_1
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