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 .
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 .
This website is maintained , controlled and managed by OOK’S Technologies, by Mr Amook Vandan Yadav , Phone Number 8090848585 , Varanasi
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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