Remembering the heroes from the summer of '76

The 1970’s is widely considered as the decade when Indians cricket finally came of age and got into the habit of winning test matches and series on foreign soil. This decade can be broadly divided into two phases based on the performance of the national side in matches played outside the country. In the first half India recorded surprising wins in West Indies and England in 1971 but undid the good work by crashing to a humiliating defeat in 1974. The second half did not produce any series win of the type achieved in 1971, but the side started gaining more respect from their opponents for playing brave, positive and combative cricket. The most significant series that India played during the second half of the 1970’s was the one against West Indies in 1976, where the team recorded a stunning victory in a test besides standing up bravely when confronted with one of the most intimidating bowling witnessed in the history of the game.

Following the retirement of Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi and Ajit Wadekar, who between them had led the country in all test matches since 1962 and the exit of veterans such as Farokh Engineer, Salim Durani and Abid Ali, it was a new look Indian team that left the shores of the nation for the twin tour to New Zealand and West Indies in January 1976. Bishen Singh Bedi was the captain of the side and Sunil Gavaskar his deputy. The side had in its ranks, besides debutants Surinder Amarnath and Dilip Vengsarkar, plenty of young cricketers such as Mohinder Amarnath, Anshuman Gaekwad, Madan Lal and Brijesh Patel, all eager to make an impression on the international stage.

In the first leg of the tour India won the first test at Auckland, on the strength of a brilliant performance by off spinner Erapalli Prasanna, who picked up 8 wickets for 76 runs in the second innings. Centuries by stand in skipper Gavaskar and debutant Surinder Amarnath also helped India’s cause and guided the side to an easy 8 wicket win. However, New Zealand held India to a draw in the next test at Christchurch and inflicted an innings defeat on them in the last game at Wellington to tie the series at 1-1. However, this was considered to be a decent performance by the visitors who were forced to battle in conditions tailor made to suit the strengths of the home side.

When India landed in West Indies, they were greeted by a home side that had returned from Australia after a bruising tour. Though the six test series played between West Indies and Australia in 1975-76 was billed as the fight between the two top sides in the world, the visitors were outplayed by the hosts, who won the series by a 5-1 margin. The famed West Indian batting line-up could not handle the express pace generated by the fast bowling duo of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson and caved in meekly, while their pace bowlers could make little impression on the Aussie willow wielders. Skipper Clive Lloyd had a tough time answering the pointed barbs and criticisms aimed at the poor show put up by his team when the squad returned home from Australia.

Hence one could understand the quest of the home side for an easy win against India to not only salvage the their pride but also pick up the broken pieces and put them back in place before the more demanding tour to England that was to follow in the summer of 1976. It appeared that this menu was on the offer when India caved down meekly, going down by an innings and 97 runs, in the first test at Bridgetown, Barbados. But the visitors put up a better show in the next match which took place at Port of Spain, Trinidad, a venue close to their hearts. India not only picked up the lead in first innings but also had the West Indies in a spot of bother on the final day, before the game petered out into a draw. The highlights of this test was the big century by Gavaskar (156) and a maiden test hundred by Patel, who remained unbeaten with 115 runs to his credit.

Heavy rains in Georgetown, Guyana prompted West Indies Cricket Board to move the third test of the series that was scheduled to be played there, back to Trinidad. This was a move that gladdened the hearts of not only the Indian cricketers but also the thousands of expatriate Indians on this island. But West Indies appeared to have the game wrapped up when, after taking a first innings lead of 131 runs, they went for quick runs and declared their second innings closed with the total at 271 runs. This left India with a victory target of 403 runs, while the bowlers of the home side had close to four and a half sessions to pick up the 10 wickets needed to win the game.

Not many gave India a chance as, apart from the legendary Aussie side led by the great Don Bradman, no other had side had successfully chased a last innings target exceeding 400 runs till then. India started sedately with Gavaskar and Gaekwad putting on 69 runs for the first wicket. Gavaskar and Mohinder, who had recently been promoted to no: 3 spot in the batting order, took the score to 134 when stumps were drawn on the fourth day, raising a faint hope that India might manage to evade defeat. Gavaskar was not at his best when play resumed on the last day but still managed to complete his century before he was dismissed with the total at 177.

It was at this stage when the game was evenly poised that Gundappa Viswanath walked into the middle. He started middling the ball from the word go and runs started flowing at a comfortable pace. The 159 run stand that Viswanath stitched with Mohinder, during which the contribution of the latter was only 40 odd runs placed India firmly in the path to victory. The game had firmly swung India’s way by the time Viswanath was dismissed for 112 runs, with the total at 336. Though Mohinder was dismissed for a doughty 85 before the side crossed the 400 run mark, Patel ensured that India crossed the winning post with 6 wickets in hands and plenty of time to spare.

West Indies, and in particular their captain Lloyd, were not amused by this result. Lloyd blamed his spinners Albert Padmore, Inshan Ali and Raphick Jumadeen saying that if they could not defend a target in excess of 400 runs and dismiss an opposing side in more than four sessions, they did not deserve to play test cricket. He not only ensured that Padmore and Ali were dropped for the next test at Kingston, Jamaica but also packed his side with four fast bowlers, a practice that he sustained till the end of his career. To good effect, he also ordered his bowlers to go all out and “get” the batsmen. When India reached a score of 60 runs at lunch on first day after having been put in to bat, West Indians became desperate and resorted to intimidatory bowling.

After lunch, Holding started bowling round the wicket and starting aiming more at the body of batsmen than at the stumps. Bouncers and even beamers were deployed liberally and field placement also showed the intent of the bowling side to intimidate the batsmen. But Sunil Gavaskar and Anshuman Gaekwad were unfazed and tackled the thunderbolts sent down by Holding, Daniel and Vanburn Holder. As the bouncer barrage increased, Gavaskar went and protested to the umpires but they chose to ignore him. The crowd at the stadium supported the bowlers by generous use of bugles, trumpets, conches and drums. Given the hostile atmosphere, the two batsmen in the middle must have felt like gladiators facing wild animals in the Roman Colosseum.

It was only after the tea interval, when the score had reached 136, that the West Indian bowlers could break this partnership. Holding followed a barrage of bouncers with a perfect yorker that found its way between the bat and pad of Gavaskar and clean bowled him. Mohinder Amarnath, who reached the crease at the fall of this wicket, and Gaekwad took the score to 178 at the close of play on day one. When the batsmen returned to the pavilion and removed the shirts, their torso was found to be full of bruises of various colours and shades, all caused by the impact of cricket ball.

The bowlers resumed with renewed energy when play resumed on next day. Holding removed Amarnath with a deadly bouncer that he could only fend to the Bernard Julien at forward short leg. Gundappa Viswanath was greeted by a vicious bouncer that almost beheaded him, which he survived by managing to get out of the line of the ball at the last instant. However, he did not last long, as another Holding special cracked his finger before lobbing off the glove for another catch to Julien.

Gaekwad was holding the other end up, batting with complete concentration and grim determination. He took blows on his body but did not show any signs of pain as he knew that this would encourage the bowlers further. The physical discomfort brought on by the pain only steeled his resolve not to lose his wicket. Finally, when his score reached 81, he was struck on the finger by a snorter from Holding. Seeing blood trickle down to his pants, he removed his gloves to examine the damage and found that the entire nail of middle finger of his leading hand had been ripped off. But even worse was to follow as he did not see the next ball which struck on the ear and sent him sprawling to the ground. Wicket keeper Derryck Murray later told him that it was a superb bouncer and no batsman could have done anything about it. The impact of the cricket ball on the ear burst his eardrums and Gaekwad had to be rushed to the hospital where he was admitted. The standards of medical care facilities in Jamaica were not very high and he was subjected to two surgeries in India after the side returned home.

For the record, India lost this test by 10 wickets. With as many as five players on the injured list, Bedi declared the second innings closed after five wickets had fallen with the score at 97. Even at this juncture Mohinder and Vengsarkar showed the world that they could stand up and take on the fury of the fast bowlers. West Indies won the test and the series but their actions left a very bad taste in the mouth of the followers of the game. Though Lloyd tried to justify his tactics by placing the blame on the inability of Indian batsmen to face fast bowling, this did not find many takers. Even Holding later admitted to bowling “an awful lot” of bouncers and said that he was not comfortable with the way he was asked to bowl.

While India’s win at Trinidad was fashioned by the mastery of Gavaskar, brilliance of Viswanath and the solidity of Mohinder, it was the guts and fortitude of Gaekwad, who almost gave up his life for his country on the cricket field, that helped the side to survive the ordeal at Jamaica. Gaekwad batted for seven and a half hours, bore intense pain and stood up to face the bouncers and beamers without flinching or showing any sign of fear or discomfort. There has not been a bigger or better exhibition of courage on a cricket field before or since this innings scripted in blood by this unassuming and unsung cricketer.

Chasing a tall target in the fourth innings of a test match is one of the most difficult tasks in test cricket. The pitch gets slower, the ball grips the surface more and starts turning at wider angles with the result that run scoring becomes increasingly difficult. Even sides with experienced batsmen find it difficult to mount effective chase when the target is in excess of 300 runs in the last innings. It is scary and even foolhardy is to stand up and face a barrage of bouncers and beamers hurled by the fastest bowlers the game has seen without the protection offered by helmet and good quality protective equipment. The courageous saga scripted by Gaekwad and other Indian batsmen at Jamaica stands on the same pedestal as the victory achieved at Trinidad and both will be remembered for long by cricket enthusiasts.

Let us salute these heroes on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of these great performances!