There are victories, and there are notable triumphs
Partab Ramchand09-Mar-2002There are victories, and there are notable triumphs. These aregenerally in the nature of historic wins the first victory inTest cricket, the first victory over a particular country, thefirst rubber triumph, the first win overseas, and so on. But insuch a plethora of historic firsts, an event that took place onMarch 10 1971 is remembered even today by Indian cricket fanswith noticeable fondness. For old-timers, it serves as a tripdown memory lane, while for a later generation, it is a reminderof a great event.
Before the Indian team embarked on the Caribbean tour in February 1971, the two countries had played 23 Tests dating back to 1948. The record read – West Indies won 12, drawn 11. As if this was not bad enough from an Indian viewpoint, the startling fact was that not once in all those matches did India even take a first-innings lead!
Even as Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was being swept back intopower with a huge majority, not all eyes were on events in NewDelhi. It was a watershed election in the history of the nation,but some 10,000 miles away, halfway around the globe, anotherwatershed event was taking place, one that held the interest ofnot just cricket followers in this country. India had won a Testagainst the West Indies at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port ofSpain. To some of today’s generation, not familiar with Indiancricket history, the reaction could well be, “So what is the bigdeal?” On the contrary, it was a triumph worth going gaga over,as I shall try and explain.Before the Indian team embarked on the Caribbean tour in February1971, the two countries had played 23 Tests dating back to 1948.The record read – West Indies won 12, drawn 11. As if this wasnot bad enough from an Indian viewpoint, the startling fact wasthat not once in all those matches did India even take a firstinnings lead! India had beaten England, Australia, Pakistan andNew Zealand, had scored rubber triumphs over three of thoseopponents, and had even registered three victories outside thesub-continent. But when it came to playing the West Indies, theIndians seemed to suffer some kind of mental block.Over the years, batsmen like Everton Weekes, Clyde Walcott, FrankWorrell, Rohan Kanhai, Gary Sobers, Basil Butcher and Clive Lloydhad annihilated the bowlers, while the Indian batsmen came up acropper while facing up to the fiery pace of Wesley Hall, RoyGilchrist and Charlie Griffith, and even the spin of AlfValentine, Lance Gibbs and Sobers.This then was the background to the tour. Even though the WestIndies were going through a rebuilding process following theretirement of some stalwarts, even though the Indian team had anew look about it, including a new captain in Ajit Wadekar, noone gave the Indians any chance of even stretching the WestIndies, who still had Sobers, Kanhai, Lloyd and Gibbs in theirranks. Winning the rubber was of course out of the question.And yet, in the first Test at Kingston, India not only took thefirst-innings lead but also forced the West Indies to follow on.Dilip Sardesai, with his now-legendary innings of 212, was verymuch the star. The shock had been registered, but the home teamput up a much better show in the second innings to save the matchcomfortably. Following the dramatic events, there wasconsiderable interest in the second Test.Could India pull off something similar again, or was the SabinaPark performance just a fluke? When the West Indies weredismissed for 214 on the opening day, it was obvious that thenew-look Indian side meant business. Sardesai again lead the wayagain with 112, and with useful contributions from Ashok Mankad(44), Eknath Solkar (55) and an exciting debutant in 21-year-oldSunil Gavaskar (65), India managed to take a lead of 138, despitethe gallant effort of Jack Noreiga’s nine for 95 in only hissecond Test. At the close of play on the third day, West Indieswere 150 for one, and the pattern of play seemed to be followingthat of the first Test.But there was a dramatic change in the script on the fourth day,Wednesday, March 10. The Indian bowling attack was not even atfull strength, with Erapalli Prasanna injured. But SrinivasVenkatraghavan rose to the occasion, bagging five wickets for 95runs. That wayward genius, Salim Durrani, chipped in with thewickets of Lloyd and Sobers in successive overs the latter fora duck. Ere long, West Indies were all out for 261, leaving Indiawith a modest victory target of 124.About the only interest inherent now was whether India wouldfinish it off on the fourth evening or whether the match would goto a fifth day. With Gavaskar (67 not out) leading the way, Indiawere home with a day to spare, the debutant completing amemorable debut by hitting the winning boundary. Fittinglyenough, it was the 25th Test between the two countries, and withthe remaining three Tests being drawn, the victory enabled Indiato win a rubber against the West Indies for the first time. Thewin at the Queen’s Park Oval was a definitive turning point inIndian cricket history, as future events proved.Little wonder, then, that the mention of March 10 1971 to anyold-timer will have his eyes sparkling with delight in a moment,and he will be “off” on that trip down memory lane again.