Tied Test II was the undisputed highlight
Partab Ramchand - 22 February 2001
The Australian team that visited India early in the 1986-87 season was
in the process of rebuilding. The retirement of several stalwarts in
quick succession had left the side urgently in need of fresh blood
transfusion even as they went down to successive defeats to West
Indies (both home and away), England and New Zealand (both home and
away). India on the other hand were cock-a-hoop after having the
better of a drawn series `Down Under' and then defeating England in
England.
India then entered the field on the first day of the three Test series
armed with the favourites tag. But displaying the resilient qualities
that have always been an Aussie trademark, the visitors took no time
in shrugging off the underdogs label. And at the end of the rubber,
they had held their own. The second Test was a rain affected draw and
the final Test was a high scoring draw. And of course, the opening
game of the series, Tied Test II gave the series a slice in history.
The Australian batting was strong. David Boon and Geoff Marsh had
already proved to be an outstanding opening pair and with Dean Jones,
Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Greg Ritchie to follow, it was always a
tough task for the Indian bowlers to bowl the Australians out once,
let alone twice.
It was the bowling that was the weak link in the visitors' armour.
They did not have a single penetrative bowler and the line up of Craig
McDermott, Dave Gilbert and Bruce Reid (fast) and Ray Bright, Greg
Matthews, Waugh and Border (spin) was never going to worry the Indians
on shirt front wickets. The manner in which India wriggled out from a
tight corner at Madras and the fact that Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi
Shastri figured in a record unbroken 298-run partnership for the sixth
wicket at Bombay illustrates the frightfully modest qualities of the
bowling.
The Indians, cocky at the start of the series were brought down to
earth midway through the first Test. But they recovered and to their
credit played a major role in the pulsating proceedings on the final
day by boldly going for the target of 348 runs in 87 overs. The rain
affected second Test was a damp squib but Vengsarkar, then in the
midst of a Bradmanesque run, used the truncated period by completing
5000 runs in his 86th Test, the third Indian after Gavaskar and
Viswanath to reach that landmark. And in the final Test, Indian
batsmanship was at its best in ideal conditions with Gavaskar,
Vengsarkar and Shastri all getting hundreds.
Like the Australians, the Indian bowlers too could not make much
headway. One simple statistical evidence would best illustrate this -
Kapil Dev bowled 45 overs in the three Tests and finished wicketless
after conceding 124 runs. The spin trio of Ravi Shastri, Maninder
Singh and Shivlal Yadav were frightfully expensive, symbolised by the
fact that in the three Tests the Australians scored 1512 runs and lost
only 27 wickets.
In an otherwise unmemorable tour in which India won the one day series
by three matches to one with one ending in a no result, the major
highlight was Tied Test II. Only the second such result in 1052 Tests
till that time, the game had much drama, tension and excitement.
Australia led off with a daunting score of 574 for seven wickets
declared. Boon got 122 and Border 106. But the hero was Jones who
fought off the intense heat and humidity, besides a bout of
dehydration in scoring 210 in 503 minutes. Indeed, he was hospitalised
after his marathon innings. India's start was shaky and they were in
danger of following on, but they recovered mainly through a capital
innings of 119 by Kapil Dev. Australia finished 177 ahead on the first
innings but when they took their own time to get 170 for five by
stumps on the fourth day, the match was written off as a draw.
Border, reportedly on the advice of coach Bobby Simpson, however made
a surprise declaration first thing in the morning. Eschewing defensive
methods, India decided to go for the target. Gavaskar, playing in his
100th consecutive Test scored 90 and India with a score of 193 for two
at tea, were favoured to win. The target was now 155 in 30 overs. But
the Australians fought back in the last session and wickets fell at
regular intervals until Shastri took control and with the help of the
tailenders brought India to striking distance of victory. Matthews and
Bright toiled on as the heat and the tension got to the players,
leading to frayed tempers. Towards the end, that rare fourth possible
result in cricket, a tie, came well and truly into the picture. And
that was how the match finally ended, before a capacity stadium crowd,
which was shouting themselves hoarse.
© CricInfo
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India.
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David Boon,
Steve Waugh,
Greg Ritchie,
Craig McDermott,
Dave Gilbert,
Bruce Reid,
Ray Bright,
Greg Matthews,
Allan Border,
Dilip Vengsarkar,
Ravi Shastri,
Maninder Singh,
Kapil Dev,
Sunny Gavaskar.
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