Which two future stars made their one-day debut against England at Ahmedabad in 1981? (01 February 2002)
The 1981 one-dayer at Ahmedabad was, it seemed, a good match for
debuts.For England, Geoffrey Cook and Clifton Richards player their
first one-day international, while India fielded three rookies. One
among them - Randhir Singh - would only play two matches for one wicket,
but the other two went on not only to captain their country but to
become established stars in their own right.
England won the toss, so one of the debutants got into the action right
away. Opening the batting with Sunil Gavaskar, Krishnamachari Srikkanth
must have been understandably nervous, and he did consequently not have
a great start to his career, making 0 off 10 balls. His illustrious
partner, whom he was to accompany to the crease many more times, did no
better, taking 13 balls for his own duck.
After Dilip Vengsarkar made 46 and Kirti Azad 30, some lusty hitting and
running was needed towards the end of the innings. Syed Kirmani, making
18, found a willing partner in the other debutant, Ravi Shastri, who hit
19 off 28 before being run out.
India went on to lose the match by five wickets, Shastri's miserly 0-24
off 10 overs not stopping Mike Gatting from leading England to 160 in
43.5 overs. Srikkanth and Shastri may have not been able to spur India
to a victory on this occasion, but their induction into the national
team would see them notch up many wins for their country with both bat
and ball.
For more details on all the above facts check out [ StatsGuru ]
[Archive]