That night in New Delhi!

Kapil Dev amp Cos World Cup triumph made 1983 a watershed year in Indian cricket There was another occasion that fell into the memorable category of that year ndash the first daynight international cricket match played in India on September 21 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New DelhiThirtysix years on Kolkata is set to host Indias first daynight Test at the Eden Gardens Interestingly like Sourav Ganguly now there was a former India captain then as part of the organisational force ndash Bishan Singh Bedi ndash a key organising committee member for the match in aid of the Prime Ministers Relief FundIndia and Pakistan were in different groups of the World Cup but Pakistan were the first side to clash with India after their June 25 triumph at Lords With Imran Khan unavailable due to a shin injury Pakistan were led by Zaheer Abbas whose side Kapil Dev put in on September 21 Openers Mudassar Nazar and Mohsin Khan got off to a decent start in the 60 oversaside game but umpire Piloo Reporter remembered one or two light towers ceasing to function during the first part of the match the delay leading to a 50overs affairMudassar was ready to bat on when the lights went out something which amused his partner Mohsin who said he was happy to stand at the other end and watch Mudassar score all the runs The atmosphere was terrific In my estimation there were 70000 spectators at the match and there would have been 5000 more had seats not been reserved for security PM Indira Gandhi was not present but president Zail Singh came and was introduced to both teams and the officials recalled ReporterThere was a good amount of buildup to the unofficial international and spectators who witnessed a trial match between Sunil Gavaskars Bombay versus Kapil Devs Rest of India two weeks prior to the India v Pakistan duel went home happy Not all players found playing on a track and field athletics ground comfortable but veteran Ashok Mankad didKaka celebrated his appointment as manager of the Indian team for the second half of the Pakistan series with a fluent 84 off 108 balls in Bombays total of 200 all outMohinder Amarnath according to reports played an even better innings piercing the gaps elegantly for his matchwinning century Little did he know then he would have to endure a horror run with Test scores of 4 7 0 0 1 0 0 and 0 against the visiting Pakistan and West Indies Ironically this was the year in which he scored 1077 runsBack to the excitement at the Nehru Stadium Kirti Azad claimed all three Pakistani wickets to fall with his offspin but he hadnt finished for the evening Chasing 198 for victory the Indians just couldnt match the efforts of the opposition batsmen Openers Gavaskar and K Srikkanth were both run out Reporter recalled Srikkanth departing through a direct underarm throw from Kenyanborn Qasim Omar The Pakistanis couldnt believe it when Reporters finger went up and he could hear Iqbal Qasim saying Ive never seen such a good decision in IndiaThe otherwise bighitting Sandeep Patil just couldnt get going Patil 12 runs according to cricket writer Ayaz Memon in his Sportsweek report mercifully departed caught at short fine leg off Mohammed Nazir top edging a sweep He had plodded for 20 overs for his dirty dozen Balvinder Singh Sandhu who had opened the bowling with Kapil earlier in the day lapped up the excitement The ground was buzzing but there was also a fair share of tension since the visitors were in prime position to beat the hosts by a hefty margin The seventh wicket fell when the score had reached 101 But then there were the two Delhi boys left ndash S Madan Lal and Azad who had not only bowled well but fielded tigerishly as well Azad could hit them high wide and handsome but this was an international attack comprising leftarm quick Azeem Hafeez two fingers missing on his right hand ODI hattrick man Jalaluddin and Mudassar known as the man with the golden armWe were gone The asking rate was too high to win the game but Maddipa Madan Lals nickname had that belief It was he who told Kirti that this was the time to display his bighitting skills and Kirti did just that The first of his four sixes was hit out of the ground and all that happened because Maddipa provoked him in a challenging way That was Kirtis best performance for India said Sandhu of his 1983 World Cup teammate The 86run partnership in 57 minutes between Madan Lal and Azad pulled the chestnuts out of the fire but Pakistan hoped for a miracle when captain Zaheer Abbas snarled Madan Lal and Ravi Shastri Azad 71 was not going anywhere till he hit the winning runs ndash to third man for his sixth four of the innings ndash with Sandhu unbeaten on nought at the other endUmpire Reporter gushed over Madan Lals imperious 35 and as for Azads display he described it as nothing short of savagery Kirtis sixes landed in the crowd and there was a 10yard gap between the boundary line and the stands the genial retired umpire told me He had the best seat in the house just like he did in two other daynight fixtures in Delhi where centurion Kepler Wessels turned on the party lights for Australia in 1984 followed by his matchwinning 90 for South Africa in the 1991 ODIIn Runs n Ruins Gavaskar devoted a chapter to Azads heroics He ended Kirtis Bright Night by writing about how the Indian team returned to champagnefilled celebrations at the hotel and how some teammates still had enough energy to move their feet at the hotel discoHopefully the November 2226 daynight Test against Bangladesh in Kolkata ends up as memorable as Indias onewicket win way back thenmiddays group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individuals and dont represent those of the paperCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates