Few, however, could have bargained for what was instore
Partab Ramchand08-Sep-2002By the start of the 1990 season, England were fast losing groundin international cricket, particularly on their woeful record athome. In successive summers since 1986, England had lost toIndia, New Zealand, Pakistan, West Indies and Australia. And eventhough they narrowly defeated New Zealand in the first half ofthe 1990 summer, the series against India in the drier secondhalf, had all the makings of a close contest.The Indians, in the process of rebuilding under a new captain inMohammad Azharuddin, had a number of exciting new players,including 17-year-old Sachin Tendulkar and 19-year-old AnilKumble and this was nicely balanced by the experience of thecaptain, Kapil Dev, Dilip Vengsarkar, Ravi Shastri, Navjot Sidhu,Manoj Prabhakar and Kiran More.Few, however, could have bargained for what was in store. By theend of the three-Test series, the contest was being hailed inglowing terms by : “The theatrical impresarios ofLondon’s West End would have been proud to have put on aspectacle like this. The patrons went away delighted by what theyhad seen. The show was a winner.”The batting in the series was spectacular. Centuries, a neardouble century, and even a triple century, flowed in a seasonthat was marked by excellent weather. In the dry conditions, theIndians matched the home team in every department. Not for thefirst time, though, the tourists lost the series through onebatting collapse – in the second innings of the first Test atLord’s. But even in defeat, the Indians shone and in theremaining two Tests, their batting was as sparkling as England’s.The bowling, however, was another matter but then England’s waslittle better. Under the circumstances, the batting provided theglorious aspect of the rubber and for the spectators there wasmuch to savour.The feast started early. By the second day of the series, theEngland captain Graham Gooch had made 333 in the first innings,the first triple hundred in Test cricket since 1974. For goodmeasure, Gooch in the midst of his ,scored 123 in the second innings. The total of 456 was the mostany batsman had made in a Test. Allan Lamb and Robin Smith toogot hundreds in the first innings when England declared at 653for four.On the face of it, India would have been hard pressed to replywith anything substantial. But the visitors did, thanks to RaviShastri’s 100 and Azharuddin’s 121, during which he exhibitedoriental artistry at its best. Audacious, wristy strokeplay gothim to three figures off only 88 balls. But the most dramaticentertainment was yet to come. Despite these heroics, India were430 for nine, still needing 24 runs to avoid the follow on in thepre-lunch session on the fourth day.Narendra Hirwani joined Kapil Dev and survived the last ball ofAngus Fraser’s over. Kapil faced Eddie Hemmings and records the sequence of events that followed: “Kapil played thefirst two balls of the following over of Hemmings defensively,then ripped into the next four and drove each one for six. Threeof them were enormous, clattering the scaffolding, one was simplybig; all were magnificent. With the very next delivery Fraser hadHirwani leg before.” Kapil who went from 53 to 77 during thispurple phase became the first to hit four successive sixes in aTest.After such heroics, it does seem unbelievable that India lost thematch by 247 runs but credit must be given to Fraser, who with amatch haul of eight wickets, in rather trying circumstances, wasalmost as much a hero as Gooch.More spectacular batting followed in the second Test atManchester. Gooch got a third successive three-figure knock,shared an opening partnership of 225 with Michael Atherton (131)while Smith got his second century in as many Tests.England led off with 519 but again India made a fitting reply.Sanjay Manjrekar got 93 and Tendulkar 68 but it was Azharuddinwho again provided the razzle dazzle with a superb 179 with 21fours and a six. Between lunch and tea on the third day, hescored 100 runs, in the process becoming the first Indian toscore as many in a single session in a Test.India’s reply was a fitting 432 but Lamb now got his secondsuccessive hundred in Tests and England declared early on thefinal morning at 320 for four. A victory target of 408 was neverreally on the cards though a draw was. But India faced defeatwhen they were 183 for six. There were 2-1/2 hours left asPrabhakar joined Tendulkar. However, Indian supporters need nothave worried. For the little man and the gritty all-rounder, someten years his senior, figured in an unbroken seventh wicketpartnership of 160 runs to take India to a honourable draw.Wisden records: “Tendulkar remained undefeated on 119having batted for 224 minutes and hit 17 fours. He looked theembodiment of India’s famous opener Gavaskar and indeed waswearing a pair of his pads. While he displayed a full repertoireof strokes in compiling his maiden Test hundred, most remarkablewere his off-side shots from the back foot. Of the six centuriesscored in the fascinating contest, none was more outstanding thanTendulkar’s. At 17 years and 112 days, he was only 30 days olderthan Mushtaq Mohammed was, when against India at New Delhi in1960-61, he became the youngest player to score a Test hundred.Tendulkar held the attack at bay with a disciplined display ofimmense maturity."In the final Test at the Oval, it was India’s turn to put somepressure on England. Batting first, India piled up their highestever total against England 606 for nine declared. Shastri ledthe way with 187, Azharuddin this time was restricted to 78 butKapil came up with 110 at No 8.England’s reply of 340 was not enough to avoid the follow on butin the second innings, in conditions that remained ideal forbatting even on the last day of the series, they scored 477 forfour. Gooch with scores of 85 and 88 took his tally to 752 aneasy record for a three-Test series. Atherton got 86 and DavidGower remained unbeaten with 157. The bat’s dominance over theball was complete but no one was complaining.As only to be expected, the Indian batting figures made for eyepopping reading while the bowling figures had to be gone throughwith a great deal of sympathy. Azharuddin, who was named as oneof Wisden’s cricketers of the year, topped the Test averages with426 runs at 85.20 and Shastri, Tendulkar, Kapil Dev and Manjrekarwere not far behind. On the tour, Azharuddin again headed theaverages (770 runs at 77.00) but it was Tendulkar who scored mostruns (945) and not far behind was Manjrekar with 814.This time Vengsarkar’s scores in the Lord’s Test were restrictedto 52 and 35 but the veteran did reasonably well with 158 in theTests and 576 runs in first class games. In bowling, Hirwani tookmost wickets both in Tests and on the tour but like all thebowlers, had to pay out heavily for them.Outside the Tests, the Indians did have a fairly successful tour,winning both the Texaco Trophy one-day games and finishing with arecord of one win, two losses and 10 draws in 13 matches. But theentertainment they provided in the Tests was all pervading.