An alphabetical recall of India’s two victory Tests at London venue
Captain Virat Kohli holds aloft a stump as he leaves the field after beating England in the fourth cricket Test at the Oval on September 6, 2021. Pic/GETTY IMAGES
Abid Ali. He hit the winning runs by square-cutting Brian Luckhurst for a boundary in 1971.
Baig. Senior pro Abbas Ali Baig, who couldn’t make the playing XI in any of the three 1971 Tests, was in the team for the match vs Sussex after the Oval Test. He made 13 and four.
Chandra. India’s hero of the 1971 Oval Test last completed a full Test series in July 1967. And here, BS Chandrasekhar was scripting a historic win with a six-wicket haul.
D’Oliveira. Basil was threatening to play a gritty role in putting up a 2nd innings score that would be confronting to the 1971 Indians. It didn’t pan out as expected.
Edrich. Left-hander John Edrich never gave his away his wicket easily, but India were the only team to dismiss him twice for a duck in a single series. In 1971, Chandra had him bowled spectacularly for Duck No. 2 in the three-match rubber.
Farokh. Unbeaten on 28 with India one run away from a four-wicket win in the 1971 Test, Farokh Engineer urges his junior partner Abid Ali to exercise caution. Orders ‘disobeyed’ and Abid spanks one off Brian Luckhurst to the ropes for victory.
Gundappa. Shrugging off his duck in the first innings, Gundappa Vishwanath played what experts felt, an important innings of 33, battling for almost two hours, only to be dismissed when three were needed in the 1971 victory.
Hutton, one of the three top-scorers in England’s first innings with 81, strangely didn’t play Test cricket again. Richard, the son of Sir Len Hutton, was probably not picked against after his poor series for the Rest of the World against Australia held in the English winter of 1971.
Incredible India. Things got sweeter for Ajit Wadekar’s side after the maiden triumph in the West Indies. England were conquered too within few months in 1971. Experts believed India were world champions as England had beaten the formidable Australians 2-0 earlier in the year.
Jameson. Mumbai-born batsman John Jameson opened the batting for England in the 1971 Oval Test. The highlight of his first innings 82 was the two sixes he smashed off Bishan Singh Bedi that landed on the pavilion side of the ground.
Kenia. Hyderabad’s Kenia Jayantilal took a vital catch as substitute to send back Basil D’Oliveira was a big blow for England. No trouble for Jayantilal, but trouble for England, the BBC commentator felt in 1971.
London. The city was kind to the 2021 Indian tourists. They won the Lord’s Test of that series there and followed it up with a 157-run triumph at the Oval.
Mankad. The son of the great Vinoo Mankad didn’t hit the high notes as Sunil Gavaskar’s opening partner in the 1971 series. But Ashok Mankad spent the longest time of the series in the second innings - 11 runs off 74 balls to put on 35 with his skipper Wadekar. His running catch to dismiss Derek Underwood was memorable.
Nap. That’s what Wadekar took when he returned to the Oval dressing room after which his fellow batsmen went about getting the required runs for the win in 1971.
Ollie. England had two Ollies in the 2021Test against India at the Oval. Pacer Ollie Robinson claimed five wickets including 3-38 in the first innings while batsman Ollie Pope top-scored with 81 in the first innings. Jasprit Bumrah dismissed him for two while England attempted to chase their 368-run target.
Pujara. How can any significant Test match win in the recent past be possible without the grit of Cheteshwar Pujara? His 61 in India’s second innings was the second highest score after Rohit Sharma’s 127 in 2021. The player-turned-commentator put on 153 for the second wicket with the future Test captain.
Quell. Ajit Wadekar’s team in 1971 well and truly quelled the challenge of a trigger-happy English team who earlier in the year clinched the Ashes, by beating a formidable Australian side on their home turf.
Rohit. Centurion in the 2021 Test that India handsomely won to lead the series 2-1, Rohit Sharma could not be part of the team that had to continue the Pataudi Trophy series the following season. Rohit tested positive for Covid-19 and Bumrah had to lead the side in his absence at Birmingham; series ended 2-2.
Sardesai. Sure, he did not come close to scoring the amount of runs he plundered on the tour of the West Indies in 1971 (642 runs in five Tests), but Dilip Sardesai’s 54 and 40 were invaluable knocks at the Oval.
Thakur in 2021 took the aggressive route in both his visits to the crease in the 2021 Test. In the first innings Shardul Thakur clubbed seven fours and three sixes for his 36-ball 57 while his second innings 60 off 72 balls was laced with seven fours and a six.
Underwood. After going wicketless in his solitary Test against Pakistan at Edgbaston earlier in the summer, England recalled their wet wicket specialist for the 1971 Oval Test against India. He played a role in giving India a fright in the second innings, accounting for three (Mankad, Sardesai, and Solkar) of the six wickets to fall before victory was India’s.
Venkat. The sharp catch at slip to send back opener Brian Luckhurst in India’s second innings in 1971 and sending back D’Oliveira and Alan Knott in the space of five runs lifted the team in no small measure. S Venkataraghavan performed his senior role well.
Wadekar. Wise, wily, and wonderful was Ajit Wadekar as skipper. Along with manager Hemu Adhikari, Wadekar plotted the downfall of the England team for India’s first ever Test victory on English soil in 39 years.
X-factor Solkar. His catch at forward short leg that send Knott on his way in 1971 could well be one of the finest catches Eknath Solkar took in his 27-Test career. And let’s not forget his 97-run partnership with Farokh Engineer in the first innings which Wisden said was vital in limiting England’s lead to 71.
Yearn. The Indian team could yearn for some rest after the 1971 Test, but they were not done with the tour yet. There were four more games to play (vs Sussex, Somerset, Worcestershire, and TN Pearce’s XI) before they headed home for a grand welcome.
Zoo. That’s where some Indian supporters got an elephant called Bella from on the final day (August 24) of the 1971 Test to mark the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. Chessington Zoo in London is still operational, but we hear the elephant passed away in 1990.
mid-day’s Deputy Editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance.
He tweets @ClaytonMurzello. Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com
The views expressed in this column are the individual’s and don’t represent those of the paper.
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