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Different captains, different styles

S. Dinakar

Pataudi was instinctive; Wadekar a clever strategist

Ajit Wadekar.

Two very different captains orchestrated the Indian surge after the mid-60s. Tiger Pataudi was ruled by his instinct, Ajit Wadekar was a clever strategist.

Pataudi was downright aggressive in thought and approach. Wadekar would cover his flanks before launching an attack. They were both influential skippers and leaders.

In the last and concluding part of this series, we would focus on a specific period, between 1967 and 1971, when India emerged as a cricketing force that could win.

In 1968, India registered its first Test series triumph on away soil. New Zealand was conquered 3-1, with the spin attack, led by off-spin wizard, Erapalli Prassana, ambushing the home line-up. Here was a group of spinners that was not dependent on conditions.

Kindred spirits

It was not surprising that someone like Prasanna, who believed in flight and deception, blossomed under Pataudi’s captaincy. The two were kindred spirits.

Prasanna and Bedi bowled in tandem, with the miserly Bapu Nadkarni offering valuable support. The left-arm spin of Bishen Bedi was of the classic variety.

He would give the ball air, invite the batsmen to strike him; he would then set a trap. Importanty, Bedi had two different arm balls.

Wadekar, who brought left-handed elegance to the No.3 slot, was the batting star for India in that historic victory. Pace bowling all-rounder, Rusi Surti, made crucial runs and was among the wickets.

Interestingly, Wadekar replaced Pataudi as captain under controversial circumstances. His man-management skills and the ability to handle pressure came to the fore.

“We had players speaking different languages, from different cultures and we had to get them together,” recalls Wadekar.

The reserves were encouraged to air their views about the day’s play.

“There was a time when I had to walk up to M.L. Jaisimha and inform him that he was not a part of the eleven. Jai accepted this gracefully and came up with tremendous suggestions,” Wadekar adds.

Demanding job

His job on campaign in the West Indies, 1971, was a demanding one. India was up against a side that included Gary Sobers, Rohan Kanhai and Clive Lloyd. During the series, India unearthed its own batting star – Sunil Gavaskar.

Gavaskar made an astonishing start to his illustrious career making 774 runs in four Tests at 154.80. Here was a batsman with great powers of concentration and technical purity.

He also had a beginner’s good fortune; catches were put down off the opener’s willow.

So much so that the legendary Sobers, before a particularly crucial innings, wanted to touch Gavaskar for luck. Getting a hint of Sobers’ plans, Wadekar instructed Gavaskar to be hidden in the dressing room toilet! His effort foiled, Sobers departed early! Wadekar laughs away the incident, “all the cricketers have superstitions!”

Planning and plotting

Lighter moments apart, Wadekar planned and plotted. The gifted Salim Durrani, a left-arm spinner of exceptional quality and an effortless striker of the ball, was asked to bowl into the rough outside the left-hander’s off-stump in the decisive second Test in Port of Spain.

Durrani removed Sobers and Lloyd in a match-winning spell. Srinivas Venkatraghavan’s tight and probing off-spin fitted well in Wadekar’s game-plan of attacking from one end and containing from the other. The under-rated Dilip Sardesai had a wonderful series in the middle-order and India completed a sensational series win. The Indians had received a huge psychological boost ahead of meeting Ray Illingworth’s highly rated England side in the Old Blighty.

There were also the usual doubters. “There was pressure on us. Some were terming our victory in England as a flash in the pan,” says Wadekar.

Gundappa Viswanath, rated by Aussie legend Greg Chappell as the finest Indian batsman he has seen, was a part of the side. The Indian batting was strengthened with the return of the wristy genius.

Wadekar’s strategy for the Englishmen included forming a team of outstanding close-in catchers. Wadekar would stand at slip, Ventkat at gully, Abid Ali, in any position… and Eknath Solkar at silly point and short leg. “I knew Solkar was fearless, but he had to be encouraged and cajoled,” Wadekar says.

Different dimension

Solkar plucked catches out of thin air and the Indian spin attack acquired a different dimension; the close catchers created the pressure.

Bhagwat Chandrasekar’s leg-spin turned deadlier. “He would start experimenting if he did not get a wicket in his first two overs and you had to constantly talk to him. There were times when you had to hold him back and bring him on later,” recalls Wadekar.

There was no holding back Chandra at the Oval though. The unique and unorthodox leg-spinner, whose quicker ball was faster than most pacemen, destroyed the English line-up in the second innings with a mesmerising spell of six for 38. Illingworth’s men, clueless, were shot out for 101. India won the Test by four wickets. A famous series victory was achieved.

India, as a cricketing nation, had turned the corner.

(Concluded)

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