January 26-28, 1948
No man ever stood up to Bradman's Invincibles the way Vijay Hazare did in India's fourth Test against Australia at Adelaide in January 1948. Australia won the toss, batted first, and with the help of a Bradman double-century, made 674. India went out to bat facing a bowling line-up featuring Keith Miller, Ray Lindwall, Ian Johnson and Ernie Toshack, and soon found themselves 69 for 3. Then, Vijay Hazare walked in.

Hazare was not a man who destroyed bowling attacks as much as he did the will of bowlers. Diminutive in size but not in character, Hazare was a short man who stood tall when things got difficult. He had both the technique and the patience to stonewall for hours on end, and played cricket right out of the textbook, keeping out the good balls, hammering the bad ones; first grinding, then punishing. He made a Test century against every country he played; but no attack was as tough as this, no situation so demanding.

Hazare batted through the third day of the Test, and into the fourth, making a defiant 116 out of a total of 381. Allrounder Dattu Phadkar partnered him much of the way, ending with 123; in the second innings, Hazare would walk alone.

India followed on, and Hazare settled down in the pavilion for a well-deserved break. Such optimism. India was soon 0 for 2, and Hazare was again in the thick of things. He dug in again, batted through the day again, and was on 102 at close – India was then 174 for 6. He came out on the fifth day and continued battling as wickets tumbled around him, and was eventually out for 145, with India making 277, and, expectedly, losing by an innings.

The encomiums followed. Don Bradman called Hazare `a great player', lauding his `soundness' and `the correctness of his stroke production'. Even Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies went into raptures over him. Interestingly, Hazare's stint at the crease began on what would later be India's Republic Day; truly, a day with much to celebrate.

Vijay Hazare is one of the nominees for the Electrolux Kelvinator Wisden Indian Cricketer of the Century Award. His 2nd-innings 145 is one of the nominations for Batting Performance of the Century.

Amit Varma is assistant editor of Wisden.com in India.

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