Part III: History at the Oval

The woeful showing of the Indian cricket team abroad was for long best symbolized by their record in England. Until 1971, out of 19 Tests played in that country since 1932, India had lost 15 and drawn four. In 18 of the Tests. they had conceded the first-innings lead. In none of the Tests was there even a semblance of an Indian victory, and, indeed, on most occasions, the team went down without a fight.

Suddenly, the hunter had become the hunted. An unexpected avenue now presented itself before the Indians to win the Test and wrap up the series. The English total of 101 meant that India had to make 173 for victory in about eight hours.

In 1959, all five Tests had been lost. In 1967, the visitors had gone down in all three matches. Along the way, there had been such inglorious deeds as losing the first four wickets without a run on the board, losing the first five wickets for six runs, and being the only side to be dismissed twice in one day. The vastly different wickets and weather conditions, more than the strength of the opposition, meant that the Indians were always up against it on a tour of England.

When the 1971 team landed in England to play a three-Test series, there were indications that the visitors would put up a fight and would not go the way of their predecessors by losing all the Tests or going down tamely. But of course, winning a Test ­ let alone the series ­ was deemed out of the question. True, more or less the same squad had performed admirably in winning the series in the West Indies just a few months before. But whereas the West Indies were in the rebuilding process, England were, in 1971, very much the best team in the world, having just returned after regaining the Ashes in Australia. They had a particularly good record at home, fielded a formidable all-round side, and were led by a shrewd and successful captain in Ray Illingworth.

The Indians took little time showing that there were a very different lot from their gutless predecessors, winning five of the eight first- class games prior to the first Test ­ including four in a row. In the first Test, they matched England in every department, even taking the first-innings lead ­ for only the second time in 21 Tests in that country ­ and came close to winning before rain washed out play on the final evening. In the second Test at Manchester, however, the Indians were distinctly lucky to escape with a draw. England had the better of the game, but rain again played spoilsport on the last day, with the home team in a position of considerable strength.

It was indeed a creditable feat by the Indians to come into the final Test at the Oval with everything to play for, but England quickly put themselves into an advantageous position by scoring 355 on the first day. Rain washed out the second day's play and, on the morning of the fourth day, India were all out for 284. With a handy lead of 71, England could strengthen their position if they scored quickly and set India a challenging target on the final day. This was what they had done in the previous Test.

However, this time, there was a distinct change in the script, thanks chiefly to BS Chandrasekhar, who ripped through the England batting with his deadly mix of leg-spinners, googlies and top-spinners. In about two-and-a-half hours, the formidable line-up of John Edrich, John Jameson, Brian Luckhurst, Alan Knott, Basil D'Oliveira, Keith Fletcher, Illingworth and Richard Hutton were turned inside out as Chandrasekhar finished with six for 38. Srinivas Venkatraghavan supported him well by taking two for 44, and the Indian catching, symbolized by Eknath Solkar's famous catch to get rid of Knott, was exemplary.

Suddenly, the hunter had become the hunted. An unexpected avenue now presented itself before the Indians to win the Test and wrap up the series. The English total of 101 meant that India had to make 173 for victory in about eight hours. Time, however, was not really a factor; neither was the pitch which, but for the inevitable wear and tear, still played true on the whole. The psychological pressure of a historic victory was the major hurdle, and how the Indians handled this would, in the final analysis, decide the outcome of the game.

After the early loss of the openers, skipper Ajit Wadekar and Dilip Sardesai took the score to 76 at the close of play. Thus, on the last day, August 24, which happened to be Ganesh Chaturthi, India required a further 97 runs. Wadekar was out for 45 without any addition to the total but, amidst much tension, Sardesai and Gundappa Viswanath took the score to 124 before the former was out for 40. Solkar was fifth out at 134 and, as Farokh Engineer joined Viswanath, England espied a ray of hope with India still 39 runs away from keeping their date with history.

But Engineer quickly scotched their hopes with some daring shots, and the two had carried India to within a stroke of victory when Viswanath, going for the winning boundary, was out for a gallant 33, made in three hours. It was written in Abid Ali's fate to hit the clinching four ­ a square cut off Luckhurst ­ which set off amazing scenes of delight among the host of Indian supporters at the ground. Certainly the victory was the most famous in Indian cricket history; settling a historic series win and coming as it did on the 22nd attempt spread over almost 40 years, it set off a chain of celebrations all around the country, the like of which had never been seen before.

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