We Were “ NOT ” That " WORST " A Team Whom Anybody Could Get Us Out For “ 42 ” : Ajit Wadekar





Pic :: Paper Clipping crying India getting All Out For " 42 " 

We Were “ NOT ” That " WORST "  A Team Whom Anybody Could Get Us Out For “ 42 ” : Ajit Wadekar

Now-a-days I hardly and NEVER watch or listen to cricket.  There was a time when I would never do anything and listen to or watch cricket in any form that the game could have ever ben played.Be it the local tournament, be it anything else I would either play in it and if I was not playing, I would be doing the scoring, or stand up as an Umpire. The result was I was 0,0,0,0,0,0,0 and series of ZEROES in the Exams and in my TEST. Cricket had FINISHED me and make the life of my parents a HELL.

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Kindly also read the ARTICLE AS SUGGESTED HERE   which has been inserted in the blog page here during the month of February 2021. It makes an interesting reading and the article titles is here under-:

T' was " ONE " on " ONE -ONE ", February 1973  some 48 Years Ago :: The Instance Only " ONE " 

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For that was cricket a DEATH-BED for me lest I decided to completely do away with cricket and plunged to my studies. However yesterday when I was busy  typing the GOLDEN JUBILEE of the LAST EVER MEDAL won by an Indian Football team that my cell phone gave me a bell to which I had to act and when I did I found that  INDIA WERE ALL OUT FOR 36 THEIR LOWEST EVER TOTAL IN AN COMPLETED TEST INNING.

I was never and not  taken by surprise at all when I read this news on my cell phone. Infact I was smelling it right from 2017 when India were preparing that kind of wickets to play the Test matches here against their opponent where the match would be finished in two-and-a-half days to at the most three days.Those rotten pitches were giving India the cakes but watching them bat I could easily make out that India will find itself in a place worst than the hell if India was to play their opponent in and on a surface which would be hard, a bit juicy and with some kind of a bounce in it for the ball to carry easily upto the wicket keeper or the fourth slip. Hrere in those kind of a pitch when India would pulverize their opponent I could easily see that the ball would not even travel to the wicket-keeper easily.

Infact in 2017 and again in 2018 when I had and when I use to use my Facebook pages, to write rather than put the pictures and the photo’s I had predicted that THE WAY THE INDIANS ARE SELECTING THE PLAYERS AND PLAYING THEM, IT WOULD BE NO SURPRISE THAT THE INDIAN TEAM UNDER VIRAT KOHLI WILL BE BOWLED OUT FOR A SCORE LESS THAN 42. My write up was TROLLED and I was made a BUTT-OF-ALL-THE-JOKES in an manner that these TV Channels and it’s CHANAKYA do. I knew I would have the last laugh and it did happen yesterday.

Well- June 24th 1974 and December 19th 2020, there is a gap of about 46 years and six months. That is the time that one had to wait . However I had to wait for about three years to see my prediction to see the light of the day. The ALL - OUT - 42 by the Indian cricket team in 1974 at " LORD'S " is termed as the SUMMER-OF-42 by all the cricket writers and cricket authors of yesteryears and my book  INDIAN CRICKET : FACES THAT CHANGED IT published by Manas Publications, New Delhi, in 2009 covers it in detail. I have written that chapter  in an manner very describable and analytically in that book,  as I'm the AUTHOR of the book and the Chapter is flashed here.



Pic :: The Chapter " SUMMER OF 42 " of my book on cricket INDIAN CRICKET : FACES THAT CHANGED IT 

Spoke To Ajit Wadekar About That Summer Of “ 42 ” :: He Was Not To Believe It.

It was the State Bank Of India Inter-Circle cricket during September 1981 when the State  Bank of India, Bombay Circle under Ajit Wadekar had come to play in that tourney.It was the ONE-DAYERS competition,  on the basis of which the matches were to be played. I had the opportunity to meet and talk to Ajit Wadekar as the tourney was played at Nagpur. I was a Sub Editor ( Sports ) for the HITAVADA, Nagpur during those days. 



Pic :: Ajit Wadekar bowled by Chris old For " 3 " in that Innings of 42 .

During my conversation with him I had posed him many a question  and he answered them with precision. Assisting him were Hanumant Singh, and Subroto Guha, who were representing the Bombay Circle team in that tourney . I then had asked him all about the story and all about  “ 42 ” and the “ ilk ” that India had to do with that . Ajit Wadekar took his own time to PAUSE a LONG and HARD , listenning to my question ,  before he started replying.

Instead of making a FULL-THREE-HOUR-STORY he made it a TRAILOR .He just told me- MY ENTIRE LIFE WILL NOT MAKE ME TO BELIEVE THAT WE WERE SO BAD A TEAM TO BE BOWELD OUT FOR 42.

He went on to add- I will never be able to be at peace with myself to believe that we were bowled out for 42 as we were not at all a team which was that bad to be bowled out for 42.

His clarification that he gave it on that day was “ such was our team that Gavaskar had the ability to bat for 42 days in a stretch without being nerved or move at all, yet we were out for 42 ” .

The kind of a batting we had with as many as Ashok Mankad, Sunil Gavaskar and Farokh Engineer as openers, myself, Vishvanath , Brijesh Patel as the middle order,  Solkar, Abid Ali  and Madanlal as an all rounder with Abid Ali as a very reliable batsman at the lower to contribute , yet we were bowled out for 42, and this will keep itching me as it has been etched in my memoirs and in my life so far. While talking I could really see and watch that his eyes were MOIST.

He further added- this was the ONLY ONE mistake of my life which took away all my TEST cricket from me. My ONLY mistake was that I was the captain of that team . That was the last series I played as an Indian Test cricketer though I was fit enough to play till 1976 . Ajit was right. After his announcement from Test cricket at the end of that ill-marish and rubbish tour he scored a blitzkrieg 80 against the Pakistani side in a one dayer at Lahore in 1976 and in the Bush Trophy Wadekar’s benefit match he had scored an enterprising 80 in his First one day benefit match .  He was fit enough to play in the Test cricket but the hands of the BRUTAL selector did away with his remaining cricketing career.

Lord’s Test 1974 :: those 74 minutes and 19.3 overs finished it all.

England batted to score 629 after winning the toss .It was Thursday, the June 20th 1974 when England started batting.Three centuries by Dennis Amiss ( 188 ), Mike Dennes ( 118 ) and Tony Greig ( 106 ) raced them to 629. India replied it with 306 with Farokh Engineer adding 131 runs with Sunil Gavaskar ( 49 ) and it was swelled a bit due to some beautiful wristy classical display by Gundappa Vishvanath ( 52 ) and a gritty knock by Solkar ( 43) . Following on India ended the day with 2 for no loss on Saturday. Sunday was the rest day.

During those days there use to be a REST DAY after the first three days of play. In England since 1936, then, the Test matches would be scheduled in an manner that the matches would start on Thursday and would have Sunday as the REST DAY so that the English players would attend to the Churches and the Chapels.

On Saturday when India were 2 without any loss with Solkar and Gavaskar at the crease , many had written that the Indians would find the climatic conditions and the ball moving a HARD NAIL to cut and a HARD NUT TO CRACK .

Pic - :: The Score Board Reflects About India's " 42 " All Out 

Monday the June 24th, it took ONLY “ 63 ” minutes within a total of 19.3 overs , to be boweld out for 42 with Eknath Solkar remaining unbeaten with 18 which included two boundaries and a over boundary to add some ornament to that score. Gavaskar (5), Prasanna (5) , Vishvanath ( 5 ) and Wadekar ( 3 ) made the score look 36 a SCORE  IN WHICH THE ENTIRE INDIAN TEAM WAS OUT AT AUSTRALIA ON DECEMBER 19TH 2020. When it was 2 for no loss on the previous Saturday , it appeared that India would somehow bat for atleast a day and a half as the Indian strong batting with Engineer and Vishvanath at their brilliant best would do that .

But the day dawned overcast and hazy and the ball, which had shown no inclination to deviate off the pitch or in the air, started moving sideways. Chris Old and Geoff Arnold - an 11th-hour replacement for Bob Willis - were experts in such conditions, and never gave anyone else a chance to bowl. From the moment Engineer was trapped leg before in Arnold's opening over, it took 63 minutes for the innings to end. How long did the entire Indian innings ended on December 19th 2020 is NONE-OF-MY-HEADACHE but….. “ 63 ” when reversed become “ 36 ”

 There at England in 1974 it was the movement of the deliveries which caused that ripple. Against a seaming, swinging ball, a succession of batsmen nibbled and perished to catches behind the wicket. Only Solkar remained unbowed, his 18 not out providing almost half of India's total, and ten of those came from a four and a six in one memorable Old over during which Solkar was also hit on the head attempting a hook. Here Shami was hit on the hand and he had to see the MORTIFICATION of his arm being broken ie fractured.

Ajit Wadekar Would Now Lie In Peace

Well, back to the subject. Back to 1981 at Nagpur at the V.C.A Stadium when I was interviewing Ajit Wadekar for those 42 runs amassed to see his ruins of his international cricketing career. He was nostalgic with his eye being MOIST. His words made one to understand how much did he feel the PAIN of bearing the THORN on his body after he was unceremoniously sacked as the Captain of the Indian cricket team after that and his remains of  two years of International cricket came to an end. From his talks it was clear that HIS SOUL WILL NEVER FORGIVE HIM FOR THAT and with the Indian team now bowled out for 36 I think that Ajit Wadekar and his SOUL will now REST-IN-ETERNAL peace.

Could Not " BELIEVE " That I Would Ever See That record Broken :: Gundappa Vishvanath 

Gundappa Vishvanath, who was the member of that team which was bowled out for 42 and ONE of the TWO HALF-CENTURIAN of that match was somewhat nostalgic while speaking of that innings and that match. He was only saying that whatever we were doing, even playing with a straight bat, the ball that we were facing were travelling to the slips and to the Wicket-Keeper .We were somewhat astonished to see it. The deliveries were moving so swiftly after it got pitched on the wickets and the far more accuracy of Geoff Arnold was something that was to be believed.



Pic ::Paper Clipping Of Gundappa Vishvanath's interview after that " 36 " 

Vishvanath was also somewhat MOIST and CHOKED when he was talking about Ajit Wadekar. I a very SOFT but a MOIST voice,  though CHOKE is the right word for the voice, I'm using the word MOIST as the words coming out of his mouth was as good as MOIST .  Fondly he was remembering Ajit Wadekar, saying that HE SAW WADEKAR SOBBING in a  secluded, but a closed  place after the formalities of the game was over . I FELT VERY BAD AND SAD  WHEN I SAW THAT said Vishvanath to  the interviewer  , the paper clipping which is placed here , continued Vishvanath, as I knew Wadekar from a very close angle and he was a FULLY , a team man and a very  cool as well as  a SOBER person in life beside ONE-OF-MY-BEST-FRIEND and my colleague in the State Bank Of India.  .He could not digest that this Indian team was so bad to be bowled out for 42 in an completed innings of a Test match. 

Comparism of that “ 42 ” with this “ 36 ”

1 ). That match of 42 had India scoring 306 with two fifties and two between the 40 and the fifties scored and this had one fifty ( Kohli 74 ) and Pujara ( 43 ) scored for India in that manner .

2). That 42 had the Indian innings folded for 19.3 overs and this had India folded in exactly 21 overs.

3). That 42 had India watching an opening partnership of 131 runs by Engineer and Gavaskar , this 36 had nothing of that sort

4).That 42 had Eknath Solkar averaging 61 runs in the entire match and this 36 had Kohli averaging 39.00 in the entire match.

5).That 42 had an Indian, B S Bedi having an innings-  bowling figure of 6 for 228 runs. Here nobody , none of the Indians could claim more than three wickets in the entire match.

6).That 42 had Chris Old claiming FIVE and Geoff Arnold claiming four and this had Hazlewood claiming five and Cummins claiming four.

 7). That 42 had Chandrashekar who did not bat in the second innings as he was indisposed  .This had Shami to pull out of batting as his arm was fractured .

8). That 42 had as many as FOUR “ ZEROES ”  scored by the Indians and this had THREE

9).That 42 had  TWO Zeroes in the second innings of that Test and this had three ( Rahane, Pujara and Ashwin ) tasting the same EGG , though those were the English Eggs and these were the Australian  Fowls laying those “ FOWL- EGG ” .

This innings of 36 is the LOWEST-EVER-INNINGS total in the last 65 years of a Test match played  .It was in 1955 when New-Zealand were bowled out for 26, which is the LOWEST ever innings total in the entire history of the Test match in a single completed innings .

Anyway, back again , Ajit Wadekar is now , might be ,  relieved to see his SOUL been released for carrying that “ SIN ” of June 24th 1974, and  if not this 36 had happened , for his soul would have carried that sin , LIFE-AFTER-LIFE if not this 36 had ever happened.

That was the SUMMER of 42 , and this was the WINTER of 36 . The Summer of 42 had won as many as  “ SEVEN ” Oscar’s , the Winter of 36……??????. That is a question of CONJECTURE as a film of this name now will have to be produced and made to evaluate it's Oscar .  .

Well- in ETERNITY,  now , may your " SOUL" lie in " ETERNAL" Peace, " JITYA BHAI " 

Well , that is it and that sums up all about the same .

Well , that is it

Regards and Thanks

Pics



Shyamal Bhattacharjee 

Mr Shyamal Bhattacharjee, the author was born at West Chirimiri Colliery at District Surguja, Chattisgarh on July 6th 1959 He received his early education at Carmel Convent School Bishrampur and later at Christ Church Boys' Higher Secondary School at Jabalpur. He later joined Hislop College at Nagpur and completed his graduation in Science and he also added a degree in    B A thereafter. He joined the HITAVADA, a leading dailies of Central India at Nagpur as a      Sub-Editor ( Sports ) but gave up to complete his MBA in 1984 He thereafter added a Diploma In Export Management. He has authored THREE books namely Notable Quotes and Noble Thought published by Pustak Mahal in 2001 Indian Cricket : Faces That Changed It  published by Manas Publications in 2009 and Essential Of Office Management published by NBCA, Kolkatta  in 2012. He has a experience of about 35 years in Marketing .






Signature Of Shyamal Bhattacharjee 

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Comments

  1. Wow!!! Super elegant and stylish way of tribute to the deserved first successful overseas captain. Yea he will be in peace for ever.

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