An India vs England match at LordDuring
the first Test between India and England at Lord's in June 1932, a
handful of Indians watched from the stands as England wrapped up the
game with a day to spare, said The Times, London. The Indian team, led
by Natwarsinghji Bhavsinghji, the Maharaja of Porbunder, was dismissed
by the London-based Evening Standard as a bunch whose "15 players speak
18 languages".But that's history. On July 21, when England take on India at Lord's in the 100th Test between the two, 22,500 Indians-as per Lord's records-will fill the 28,000-capacity stadium to cheer the visitors, who are on a high after the World Cup win in April and a series win in the Caribbean.
The 1932 Indian cricket team led by the Maharaja of Porbunder at Lord's before the first Test against EnglandMembers of captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's
team are bracing for what is expected to be a hard-fought series. It
will also give England the opportunity to stage a trouble-free series
after the one in August 2010 against Pakistan ended under a cloud of
match-fixing. Three Pakistani players, Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif and
Salman Butt, were suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC)
for five years.Off the field, India and England have had their share of jousting over the timing of the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) as well as the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS). Tensions between cricket officials of India and England were evident at the recent ICC meeting in Hong Kong when BCCI officials sought amendments to the rules relating to top slots in ICC and a window for foreign players participating in IPL. Members of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) felt the changes would benefit only India.
Dilip Vengasarkar at Lord'sIndia's
last England tour in 2007 was marred by the ugly jelly bean incident at
Trent Bridge, Nottingham, where Zaheer Khan claimed close fielders had
deliberately strewn them near the crease to distract him. Worse, S.
Sreesanth was repeatedly called "Harry Potter" for wearing
glasses. When Sreesanth protested, English players said they were
cheering for Daniel Radcliffe, the actor who plays Potter in the series,
who was watching the match that day.Social historian Ashis Nandy says the craze around the 100th Test, especially the way Indians have booked nearly 85 per cent of seats, shows how complete India's control of world cricket is. Cricket has never been richer, or been played and followed by more people. All because India, not England or Australia, is making the game lucrative by providing an overwhelming proportion of its revenue and audience. India's resurrection in world cricket, especially in the eyes of England, argue Nandy and cricket historian Boria Mazumdar, started with the 1983 World Cup win. Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly helped when he stood in the balcony of the Indian dressing room at Lord's and took his shirt off to wave it at the crowd. That was the NatWest Series in 2002 and that aggressive gesture showed a new, assertive nation.
Click here to Enlarge"Many
in the ground probably felt India was wrecking cricket. But I don't
think you can ever mount that argument. Kapil's World Cup was
inspirational. Ganguly waving his shirt cemented India's attitude,"
argues Nandy. That the NatWest victory was not a fluke was evident in
2003 when India reached the World Cup finals in South Africa.Among those who can never forget the 1983 World Cup win at Lord's is Mohinder "Jimmy" Amarnath. "I got everything a cricketer desires in his life. A World Cup victory and the man of the match award, both at Lord's. What more could you want? Not just mine, it was Indian cricket's most defining moment," says Amarnath.
Mazumdar says the 1983 win helped India reinvent the game. Ganguly's 2002 gesture told the English fans another story: we don't care. "That was the start of the rise of Indian cricket. It has never looked back," he says. And now, the 100th Test will show that India is to cricket what America has been to post-war geopolitics: 'the fat boy in the canoe', as Dean Rusk, US secretary of state from 1961 to 1969, once described his country. "For as long as India continues to produce a strong team, Test cricket will have a (relatively) secure future," says Gideon Haigh, considered one of the game's finest writers.
Click here to EnlargeHaigh
finds instant support from English veteran Graham Gooch, whose record
456 runs in a match against India in 1990 (July 26-31) at Lord's is
still counted among the finest in the history of cricket. "I would love
some more jelly bean incidents," says Gooch, now a coach. "I am
expecting two top teams to play some serious cricket," Gooch told India Today in a telephone interview.Two decades later, Gooch distinctly remembers the match, and of course, the catch that wicketkeeper Kiran More missed after he had edged young medium pacer Sanjeev Sharma. "That was too early in the innings, I was on 36," adds Gooch. England won the series and Sanjeev Sharma never played for India again.
Former Indian batsman Dilip Vengsarkar, among the few Indians with great scores at Lord's, feels the "life" offered to Gooch was suicidal for India. He's had his share of pressure moments. He remembers the second innings of the 1979 Lord's Test where India, struggling to save the Test, were 323 runs behind when he walked onto the ground and, along with Gundappa Viswanath, resurrected India's fortunes. Vengsarkar (103) and Vishwanath (113) scored 210 runs in their third-wicket partnership against an attack comprising Bob Willis, Phil Edmonds, Mike Hendrick and Ian Botham. "He saved the day for us at Lord's," says Yashpal Sharma, who made his debut in that Test and is now a national selector. Vengsarkar scored another century (157) in his second foray at Lord's in 1982, even though England won the game by seven wickets. Ironically, it was his third consecutive hundred-the first by an Indian-at Lord's in 1986 that helped India win the Test by five wickets and the series 2-0.
Click here to Enlarge"Indians
are on a high in the West Indies but England, obviously, will press the
home advantage. It's a routine match, made important by a few historic
figures," says Sunil Gavaskar, who is busy packing his bags for a long
England summer of commentary.Ahead of the historic Lord's Test, astrologers have jumped into the fray. Bejan Daruwalla predicted an Indian victory but warned of tensions on the field. "It will be a tough, thrilling encounter," says Daruwalla.
Asked about the 1971 series, especially the first Test at Lord's, Gavaskar clams up. A bad memory that the Little Master would rather forget. His dismissal for 36 was eventually blamed on a dog that strolled onto the ground. A rattled Gavaskar was out soon. On the last day, as India chased 183 for a win, John Snow, the England all-rounder, crashed into Gavaskar while the latter responded to a call from wicketkeeper Farokh Engineer.
The incident provoked Alec Bedser, the chairman of selectors, Billy Griffith, secretary of the Test & County Cricket Board, and Ray Illingworth, the England captain, to reprimand Snow in the dressing room even before the all-rounder could say sorry. Snow apologised to Gavaskar later but the match was eventually washed out with England needing two wickets and India 38 runs short of victory. Snow was dropped for the next Test. India made history, securing a 1-0 series victory.
"The
first Test was a draw but the applause of the MCC members lining the
stairs inside the Lord's pavilion still rings in my ears. For me, Lord's
is magic," says Ajit Wadekar, captain of the 1971 team. For him, the
100th Test marks a paradigm shift in the way cricket is played, and
controlled across the world.Wadekar is candid enough to admit that while the 1971 series was an eye-opener for Indian cricket, the landmark event was eclipsed three years later when England creamed India 2-0 in 1974 under Mike Denness. It was a nightmare for fans to see India bowled out for 42 (inside the first 40 minutes of the fourth morning's play, off just 17 overs) in the third Test at Lord's, unable to face the firepower of Geoff Arnold, with figures of 8-1-19-4, and Chris Old, 8-3-21-5, who ripped apart the batting lineup. India lost the game by an innings and 285 runs.
Sachin Tendulkar, who is just one ton away from a 100 international centuries, will be looking to make the milestone at Lord's. "Lord's is the ground where all the players dream of getting a hundred. I am no different," Tendulkar told reporters in London four years ago during the 2007 series. He is an honorary life member of the Marylebone Cricket club headquartered at Lord's.
The excitement is building. Not just at Lord's. India will also play to packed houses in the other three Tests, one Twenty20 match and five odis as well. "This will be a super series," says BCCI's Ratnakar Shetty.
Cricket's controlling body, the Dubai-based ICC, wants to celebrate the moment by calling supporters across the world to select the greatest Test XI of all time. Voting, which closes on July 13, will help ICC shortlist 60 players in five categories-two opening batsmen, three middle-order batsmen, a wicket keeper, three fast bowlers and one spinner. They will then be voted on, argued over and fought online, but not on the field. For that showdown, it's all at Lord's, starting July 21.
No comments:
Post a Comment