November reign in Mumbai

Heres some trivia as we get our teeth into the buildup to the 202021 BorderGavaskar Trophy Australia were the second team India played against in 194748 after their Test debut against England in 1932 Yet the Australians were the last among England West Indies Pakistan and New Zealand to be beaten by India in a Test seriesThat happened this week 41 years ago at the Wankhede Stadium where Sunil Gavaskars team completed their 20 series win over a Kim Hughesled Australian sideAs an 11yearold I watched on television openers Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan frustrating the Australian bowlers until Chauhan had his furniture disturbed by toiling leftarm pacer Geoff Dymock They put on 192Gavaskar followed but unlike Chauhan 73 he didnt miss his century which in MAK Pataudis comments in Sportsworld magazine was achieved through some powerful drives and faultless concentration It was the India captains fourth century in four Tests at the Wankhede and the crowd were treated to yet another wave of his broad willowTest century No 22 put him on par with Englishmen Walter Hammond and Colin Cowdrey in the centurymakers list only below Sir Garfield Sobers 26 and Sir Donald Bradman 29Statistician Sudhir Vaidya pointed to the fact that Gavaskars fifth century against Australia pushed him ahead of Bradman Neil Harvey and Bob Simpson all of whom had four tons in IndiaAustralia Tests He ended up with three moreIndia came into this sixth Test at Mumbai with only a victory in the third Test at KanpurIndia had a chance to win the fifth Test in Kolkata thanks to a sporting declaration by Hughes but ended up with 2004 chasing 247 for victory at the Eden GardensMV Narasimha Rao who stayed unbeaten on 20 with Yashpal Sharma 85 in Kolkata found himself out of the XI in Mumbai where Mohinder Amarnath was recalled Amarnath walked in on Day Two wearing his father Lalas solar hat but lasted just seven balls before falling on his stumps while trying to deal with a Rodney Hogg bouncer Amarnath didnt play a Test thereafter for three yearsApart from the openers Indias batting heroes were Syed Kirmani and Karsan Ghavri who put on 127 for the eighth wicket Kirmani became the first Indian nightwatchman to score a Test century and although it was a knock that went into history the innings which cut Australia deep was Ghavris 86 off 99 balls including three sixes I asked him on Wednesday about what got him to blast away and he revealed that he was not in the playing XI declared on match eve I was told I was not playing but Polly Umrigar urged Sunil to include me and he did When I went out to bat I wanted to justify the faith shown in me I was lucky I got a faint edge to wicketkeeper Kevin Wright off Dymock but I was given not out even though the entire Australian team went up in appeal Hughes got his spinners to bowl at me and I decided to attack them said Ghavri He wasnt disappointed to miss out on a hundred A century was never on my mind I was just happy to come up with a performance which would guarantee me a place for the next Test India playedIndias 4588 declared killed Australian hopes while spinners Dilip Doshi and Shivlal Yadav who made their debuts in the first and second Tests of the series respectively and Kapil Devs 439 in the second innings helped bowl out the opposition for less than 200 on both occasions for a rare innings victory over Australia on November 7 The Test ended inside four days and according to Haresh Munwani the late Sportsworld correspondent the Australians were in such a hurry to return to their hotel that they left behind Graham Yallop Jim Higgs Peter Sleep and Allan Border The quartet had to hop into a cab to reach their hotelThe Australians felt they were done in by the umpiring and the schedule Allan Border in Beyond Ten Thousand revealed that the leg before dismissals count before the Mumbai Test stood at Australia 20 India 8 Plus there was the gruesome schedule The Melbourne Heralds Rod Nicholson felt the nineweek tour comprising six Tests and five zonal games was an unrealistic programmeThe 197980 home season for India consisted of 13 Tests mdash six each against Australia and Pakistan in addition to the 1980 Jubilee Test against EnglandPakistan were tipped to beat India after the 197879 triumph on their home soil and India captain Gavaskar reckoned Asif Iqbals team would smash us to pulpMeanwhile Hughes said I cannot see India beating Pakistan All you have is Kapil Dev and if he breaks down what do you haveThe blond Western Australian would have wondered what he was talking about by the time he visited Mumbai again mdash during the Jubilee Test en route to Pakistan mdash by which point Asifs Test career was over after the series loss in IndiaIndia now have the chance of bagging a hattrick of BorderGavaskar Trophy triumphs If achieved it will be more than just trivia mdash it will be unprecedented and historicmiddays group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend 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