da aviator aposta： The hosts, despite being defeated, were far from disgraced

da brwin： Partab Ramchand06-Jul-2005Cricket interest in India has always been high, but during the1966-67 season the following was unprecedented, and spectatorspacked grounds as never before. The West Indies were touring thatyear, and never before had such a clear-cut world-champion sidevisited India. They were a formidable outfit, with some of thebiggest names in world cricket, and in the 60s, there was nobigger name than Gary Sobers.The greatest all-rounder in the game’s history was then at thepeak of his powers. During the summer of 1966, he had led theWest Indies to a 3-1 victory over England, and his contributionto the triumph in the five-match series was mind-boggling ­ 722runs, 20 wickets and 10 catches.The West Indies team itself was in the midst of a glorious runduring that decade, and they came to India eager for a quick andeasy kill. In addition to Sobers, the other batting starsincluded Rohan Kanhai, Basil Butcher, Conrad Hunte, SeymourNurse, and a 22-year-old bespectacled lanky youth of whom muchwas expected ­ Clive Lloyd. The bowling too matched the batting,with Wesley Hall and Charlie Griffith having establishedthemselves as a devastating duo; as back-up, there was always thespin of Sobers and Lance Gibbs.A 2-0 victory for the West Indies in the three-Test series waspredicted, and that was how the contest ended. But once theseries was over and it came time for a post-mortem, the feelingwas that it was closer than the final result. India ran theformidable opposition close for long and gave them many anxiousmoments before they took the first Test at Bombay by six wickets.The final Test at Madras too was close and need not have beendrawn. India were on top midway through the game and on the finalafternoon were in fact in a winning position. But dropped catches­ Sobers was let off twice – saw the West Indies wriggle out.Only in the second Test at Calcutta were India outplayed by aninnings and 45 runs, and this was entirely excusable as thebatsmen were up against Sobers and Gibbs on a pitch turningsquare.Sobers of course lived up to his lofty reputation, scoring 342runs at an average of 114.00, taking 14 wickets and latching onto seven catches. The other batsmen were in the great one’sshadow, but the Indian crowds did get to see some fine battingfrom Kanhai, Nurse, Butcher, Hunte and Lloyd, who made a splendiddebut at Bombay by scoring 82 and 78 not out. But the astonishingaspect was that neither Hall nor Griffith really caused thebatsmen problems; it was Gibbs who with 18 wickets proved to bemost destructive.The hosts, despite being defeated, were far from disgraced. Inthe 60s, under the inspiring leadership of the Nawab of PataudiJr., Indian cricket had made notable strides. There was greatersolidity in the batting, more variety in the bowling (in fact thefamed spin quartet was formed during that series), and vastimprovement in the fielding. Chandu Borde was by now the sheetanchor of the Indian batting, and he maintained this reputationby getting two hundreds in the three Tests. Pataudi, throughconsistent batting, confirmed his stature as one of the leadingbatsmen in the world.There were also spells of bright batting from Budhi Kunderan,Salim Durrani, ML Jaisimha, Hanumant Singh, V Subramanyam andFarokh Engineer – the latter at Madras in fact almost got ahundred before lunch on the first day. With enthralling strokesall round the wicket, the flamboyant batsman flayed the vauntedattack to reach 94 by the interval and went on to get 109. Awelcome discovery during the series was Ajit Wadekar, whose hookfor six off Hall during his innings of 67 at Madras is stilltalked about by old-timers lucky enough to have seen thethrilling spectacle.The spin quartet made up for the lack of adequate new-ballbowlers. BS Chandrasekhar was head and shoulders above everyoneelse, and he took 18 wickets, including a match-haul of 11 for235 at Bombay, a classic display of attacking leg-spin bowling.Erapalli Prasanna, making a successful comeback, SrinivasVenkataraghavan and Bishan Singh Bedi, who made his debut in theseries, all played a notable role in curbing the free-strokingCaribbean batsmen.Unfortunately the tour will also be remembered for the major riotat the Eden Gardens, which came about following the over-sellingof tickets by officials. On the second morning – New Year’s day1967 – the agitated crowd, already spilling over onto the fieldof play, gave vent to its feelings when, following a police lathicharge, the stands were set on fire. Considerable damage was alsodone to the outfield, and some miscreants dug up the pitch. Itwas only after the intervention of government officials – andmany assurances of safety – that the West Indies agreed tocontinue with the match and the tour.