Kapil Dev and West Indies
ampa...@gmail.com
espeically his centuries and interestingly enough, Kapil Dev has made 3
of his 8 centuries against the WI at their peak and all of them with a
cause.
1>The first one was 126 against WI in 1979 which India would have
easily won had it not been for the rain.
2>>The second one a 100 at Trinidad in 1979, which saves India from an
innings defeat. Of course Amarnath played well too.
3> The third one in the final test at Chepauk in 1988 to level the
series 1-1. Of course, I ndia lost the ODI series 6-1 or something like
that.
I have pretty good recollection of the third one because I had seen
that, but I have no recollection of the 1st and second one. Can anybody
throw some light on that one and how good was that innings ?
On a side note, just as Australia is considered the benchmark today, WI
were the benchmark for the 80's, I just noticed, that of the other
three of the "big four" all rounders, Imran and Hadlee have just one
century a piece against WI and Botham has a pretty dismal record
against them with no centuries and averaging 20.
shariq...@yahoo.com
Indian team lead by Alvin Kallicharran. A team had some real greenhorn
bowlers including the debutatant Malcolm Marshall who had played a
grand total of exactly one first class match before that tour. Gavaskar
made 4 100s in that series IIRC
Shariq
ampa...@gmail.com
India) was against a depleted WI attack.
but check out, this second century at Trinidad which is what I am
interested in.
http://www.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1980S/1982-83/IND_IN_WI/IND_WI_T2_11-16MAR1983.html
It has Marshall, Roberts, Hoolding, Garner, you name it.
In that same series in the final test match in Antigua, he made a
scorching 98 of 97 balls.
check this out.
http://www.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1980S/1982-83/IND_IN_WI/IND_WI_T5_28APR-03MAY1983.html
yet again, in that same series in on ODI, he made 78 of 38 balls. I bet
no cricket in the history of the game had the b@lls and the guts the
take on the WI might in WI in 1983, in this fashion...
http://www.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1980S/1982-83/IND_IN_WI/IND_WI_ODI2_29MAR1983.html
ampa...@gmail.com
Dev's match fixing controversy) when he was commenting on Kapil
Dev...and he described that 72 of 38 balls as the best display of
attacking cricket he had ever seen. He even said, even I myself couldnt
have played like that, the way Kapil dev was tearing the WI fast
bowlers.
Incidentally, that wasIndia's first win over WI in an ODI and it was
the highest total by any team against WI at that time.
gauravg
the other three - Dev, Imran and Botham.
Uday Rajan
> ... Kapil Dev has made 3
> of his 8 centuries against the WI at their peak and all of them with a
> cause.
>
> 1>The first one was 126 against WI in 1979 which India would have
> easily won had it not been for the rain.
Packerless attack, though. India were 300/2 at one stage, which
basically sums up the quality of the bowling. The only good bowler in
the attack was Clarke, who became very good in the early '80s, but was
still developing in 1978-79. Holder was well past it, and Phillip and
Parry were not really Test class.
Kapil's innings had some exciting strokeplay; the quick eye and bold
strokes were already evident. He was 94* overnight on day 2, and
reached his 100 in the first over on the morrow, with a 4 followed by a
6. The 6 was a flick over square leg (yes, not a pull, a flick; Kotla
had a shortish square boundary). But it was a flat track and a weak
attack. Kapil's 26* in the second innings at Madras was more
significant in terms of the series (important knock in a low-scoring
Test, the only one with a result in the series), but arguably the
hundred was important to Kapil's own development as a player.
As you say, India were well on top at the end of day 3. The match
wasn't over, though. There was very little in the pitch (Kotla was the
flattest of flat tracks in those days, rivalled only by Green Park at
Kanpur; the curator, Sitaram, is still legendary for his ability to
kill off any life in the pitch). The WI collapse in the first innings
was inexplicable, probably due to a lack of concentration by a green
side. They did put up some big innings in the series, so the result was
not a foregone conclusion even then.
> 2>>The second one a 100 at Trinidad in 1979, which saves India from an
> innings defeat. Of course Amarnath played well too.
The innings defeat had been more than taken care of by the time
Amarnath fell. The score was 312/4 at that point, with India 93 ahead.
However, India still needed to bat for a couple of hours to ensure the
draw. In the first Test, on the last day, India had been 168 runs up, 6
wickets down, about 10 minutes before tea. Roberts then wiped out the
remaining four wickets in double quick time, and the WI came back after
tea and, led by Richards, hammered off the runs to win that Test. So 93
up, 4 wickets down, with about three hours to go, was a perilous
position.
I'd say Kapil's first 50 was valuable in staving off defeat, with the
second being just a bonus. By the end, Gomes and Richards were bowling
in tandem, and the runs were flowing. Of course, it was a Marshall-led
full strength WIPQ attack. You mention elsewhere Kapil's 98 in the last
Test, which was a better innings overall since it came early in the
match.
That 72 off 38 balls in the odo at Berbice was a very good knock. It
was the first time India had beaten the WI in an odo, and I think it
helped set up the WC win---it showed that the WI were beatable.
Gavaskar had a 90 in that odo, his only significant contribution in
what for him was an otherwise miserable tour.
BTW, the best knocks by an Indian on that WI tour were Amarnath's 91
and 80 at Barbados. Coverage was minimal for that tour, no TV coverage
at all (forget live coverage, but there weren't even highlights on TV).
With the approximately 12 hour difference, following it on the radio
was also a bit difficult. The WIPQ unleashed a barrage of short-pitched
bowling at Barbados. Amarnath stood up to them, and repeatedly hooked
them. He took several blows on the body in that Test, and had to retire
in the 2nd innings at one point. But he came back on the last day, and
battled it out till the end. I see from the scorecard that he got the
MOM for that Test, and thoroughly deserved it too.
> 3> The third one in the final test at Chepauk in 1988 to level the
> series 1-1. Of course, I ndia lost the ODI series 6-1 or something like
> that.
Outstanding innings, that ton at Chepauk.
Kapil's best Test innings is probably that 129 in RSA, against Donald
and Pollock when both were very good, on a fast track at Port
Elizabeth. India were 31/6 at one stage, and the next highest score in
the innings was just 17.
And those 4 successive sixes off Hemmings have left a priceless memory.
Yes, India lost that Test, so that was an inconsequential over in the
grand schemes of things. But the scorecard be damned; that over will be
remembered for a long, long time: one has to shake one's head in
disbelief at the sheer gall of a player trying to hit four successive
sixes, with the last man in and 24 left to save the follow-on.
> On a side note, just as Australia is considered the benchmark today, WI
> were the benchmark for the 80's, I just noticed, that of the other
> three of the "big four" all rounders, Imran and Hadlee have just one
> century a piece against WI and Botham has a pretty dismal record
> against them with no centuries and averaging 20.
Pak and WI played a string of low-scoring Tests and series in the
1980s, so I'm not surprised Imran managed only one ton. Hadlee was not
quite as good a batsman as the other three, so his performance is not
too surprising. Botham was the one player who came up a little short
against the WI. Partly that's due to his captaining two of the series
against them, in the early '80s. And then, when the WI came around
again, he was a little past his best.
Andrew Dunford
"Uday Rajan" <uday...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1122694264.4...@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
<snip>
> Kapil's best Test innings is probably that 129 in RSA, against Donald
> and Pollock when both were very good, on a fast track at Port
> Elizabeth. India were 31/6 at one stage, and the next highest score in
> the innings was just 17.
Methinks your memory is playing a trick. IIRC Pollock made his debut
against England in 1995/96.
<snip>
Andrew
Uday Rajan
>
> Methinks your memory is playing a trick. IIRC Pollock made his debut
> against England in 1995/96.
Indeed, you are right. I was thinking of Brett Schultz, who had picked
up a cheap 5fer in a BP XI tour game against India, and who was fast
and left-arm, a deadly combination against that Indian side. Schultz
was very good while he was fit, which was unfortunately rare. ISTR that
injuries essentially killed off his career very early.