When Jasu Patel wrought the miracle at Kanpur
Partab Ramchand - 18 February 2001
The miracle at Kanpur, as the totally unexpected Indian victory was
hailed as, was the highlight of the Australian tour of India in
1959-60 as the author recalls in the fourth part of the series of
articles being run by CricInfo as part of the build up to the ensuing
India-Australia series.
It was supposed to be a battle between unequals. On one side was a
team which had won eleven of its last 16 Tests and lost none. On the
other was a team which had lost eleven of its last 13 Tests and
winning none. And yet when the five Test series ended, the result was
Australia 2, India 1, drawn 2.
That was the unexpected result of the 1959-60 series between the two
countries. When the Australians landed in India, they were hailed as
one of the strongest teams to visit these shores. They were the
leading side in the world having conquered, in the past three years,
India, South Africa, England and Pakistan. India on the other hand,
had over the same period lost badly to Australia, West Indies and
England. Now they were asked to take on the Australians who were
bristling with confidence. Led by the shrewd Richie Benaud, the side
had players of the calibre of Neil Harvey, Norman O'Neill, Colin
McDonald, Alan Davidson, Ken Mackay, Ray Lindwall, Les Favell, Wally
Grout, Ian Meckiff and Lindsay Kline. It was an outfit that had an
invincible tag around it.
On the other hand, Indian cricket was in turmoil following a series of
heavy defeats. They seemed to be lacking in every department -
batting, bowling, fielding and captaincy. Also, there seemed to be a
lack of fighting spirit. Certainly it did seem that we were ill
equipped to take on the Aussies.
That India lost two of the matches was no surprise. That India drew
two Tests honourably was perhaps a matter of congratulations. But the
fact that India did manage to win one Test - incidentally the first
defeat Australia suffered under Benaud's captaincy - was indeed a
miracle.
More than 40 years later, the miracle at Kanpur, as that victory was
hailed, still remains one of India's most notable Test triumphs. Old
timers' eyes still glisten with pride when they remember those five
unforgettable days, which culminated on Christmas Eve. Even a new
generation of cricket lovers, not even born then, are quick to realise
the significance of that historic triumph.
The selectors had sprung a surprise by naming Gulabrai Ramchand as
captain. An experienced cricketer with aggressive instincts, the
Bombay all rounder turned out to be an inspired choice. He led
capably, his confidence level boosted by the victory at Kanpur. The
selection committee, headed by Lala Amarnath also tried out a number
of young players as part of the rebuilding process and almost all of
them did well. And then there was the masterstroke, authored by
Amarnath, of playing Jasu Patel at Kanpur. Patel was then 35, had
played just five Tests in the preceding five years and his career was
generally considered over. But he was brought out of semi retirement
and the rest, as the cliche goes, is history. Patel finished with 14
wickets for 124 including a bag of nine for 69 in the first innings to
wrought the Kanpur miracle.
That victory by 119 runs came a week after India had been routed by an
innings and 127 runs in four days in the first Test at New Delhi. That
result in fact was thought to have set the pattern for the rest of the
series. And yet thanks mainly to Patel, India quite astonishingly,
made it to Bombay for the third Test with the rubber level at one
match all. And the series stayed that way with India pulling off an
honourable draw at the Brabourne stadium. In the fourth Test at
Madras, however, slipshod batting saw India defeated by an innings and
55 runs. But India salvaged honour again by earning another draw in
the final Test at Calcutta.
There were many factors that led to India performing creditably in the
series. Ramchand's captaincy was certainly one. He handled a generally
depleted Indian attack adroitly and the Australian run machine was
consistently held in check. The batting of Nari Contractor was a
revelation. He showed he had arrived on the scene in a big way by
compiling 438 runs including a century. Chandu Borde, Abbas Ali Baig,
Ramnath Kenny, ML Jaisimha and Nadkarni all come up with valuable
knocks when it mattered most. The bowling was never really collared
and a never say die attitude pervaded throughout the series. This was
reflected in the fact that India did so well despite not being at full
strength. Vijay Manjrekar missed the entire series following a knee
operation, Polly Umrigar was injured midway through the third Test and
missed the last two, Ramchand himself was hopelessly out of form and
pace spearhead Ramakant Desai played in only three Tests.
Really there was something very positive about the Indian triumph for
there was little about the Australians' performance that did not befit
their reputation. Harvey and O'Neill got two centuries each, Favell
got one and Mcdonald, Mackay and Burge were among the runs. Grout
proved to be a world class wicketkeeper and Benaud and Davidson got 29
wickets each. Only the support bowling of Mackay, Kline, Lindwall and
Meckiff did not live up to expectations. But that in no way lowers the
significance of the Indian achievement in the series.
© CricInfo
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