It was at the lowest ebb of his first stint as captain of India that, a couple of months after a miserable defeat in the West Indies, an article appeared in the 28 June 1997 edition of the Times of India under Sachin Tendulkar’s name.
The Indian skipper proceeded to defend his captaincy record and the team’s underperformance since taking charge the previous October. Displaying a keen sense of modern cricketing history, Tendulkar attempted to give some context to the poor results under his stewardship.
Strikingly, Tendulkar compared the heartbreak of Bridgetown from two months previously to another infamous, very similar encounter – a 59-run win over Australia at Melbourne in 1981.
It is a game that has been wrapped in mystique ever since it concluded more than thirty-five years ago. Trailing 1-0 in the series going into the final Test, India managed to overcome controversy, injuries, a brute of a pitch and eleven hostile Australians for a victory of indescribable defiance.
BACKGROUND
India were in decent form heading into the series. They had lost their last Test encounter – a one-off game against England to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the BCCI – but had won three of their past five series. One of these wins came against Australia at home, a 2-0 victory over six-Tests in 1979.
On their previous tour Down Under in 1977-78, India missed a golden chance. After bitter defeat in The Ashes, Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket had deprived the Australian national team of several top players. Despite this, India were denied a first series win in Australia as the hosts won 3-2.
The Packer rebels were back this time around to bolster a wounded Australia side. Australia won just two of eight series in the time between those India tours – against England and New Zealand.
India could not afford to be complacent, though. The Australians boasted a talented squad with players such as Greg Chappell, Kim Hughes, Doug Walters, Allan Border and Dennis Lillee among them.
Across the first two Tests, the hosts rammed home their advantage. In Sydney, Australia hammered the tourists by an innings and 4 runs inside three days. In Adelaide, India just scraped a draw, clinging on with two wickets in hand at stumps on the final day.
Chappell and Hughes had both slammed double hundreds in the series, and they had been particularly severe on Dilip Doshi and Karsan Ghavri. Put in to bat at Melbourne by Chappell, who was likely influenced by the extra grass on an MCG pitch, India seemed to be heading down the same route at 22-2 after 11 overs.
CENTURIONS STEAL THE SHOW
Gundappa Vishwanath, however, was having none of it. Helped by some brave resistance from Sandeep Patil, Syed Kirmani and especially Shivlal Yadav (whose toe was broken by a Len Pascoe yorker), Vishwanath put on a fighting 114 in a first innings total of 237. He had struggled over the preceding fourteen months, and his magnificent return to form earned him a standing ovation from the crowd.
Two spinners had been forced on Chappell by the controlling selectors, but Lillee had taken four wickets in the first innings. The Indian seamers, however, were to have no such luck. There was some initial success, but the wicket was rapidly losing pace from one session to the next.
Australia were all out for 419 in 156.3 overs – a first innings lead of 182. Chappell (76), Walters (78) and Rodney Marsh (45) all cashed in, while Border ended up making 124.
The home side batted a little over nine-and-a-half hours for their runs as the pitch continued to slow and showed signs that it would not hold up to the rigours of five-day cricket.
INDIANS WALKING WOUNDED
A concern for the tourists was that they didn’t look like they would be able to take advantage of a deteriorating wicket. Kapil Dev strained a thigh muscle while bowling, while Doshi was unaware of a damaged toe and ended up bowling 52 overs on it.
Yadav supposedly took seven pain-killing injections directly in his broken toe and was limping so badly that he was unable to play a further part in the match.
It was amidst this wasteland of broken bodies that captain Sunil Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan began India’s second innings on the third day. They made an excellent start – the two openers were 165 for no loss by 85 minutes into the fourth day, before Gavaskar’s infamous spat with Lillee.
Rookie umpire Rex Whitehead (standing in only his third Test) was at the centre of the controversy. Already the Indians had felt aggrieved by the standard of umpiring in the series, feeling that several decisions had gone against them. For Gavaskar, it was one decision too many.
A delivery from Lille had cut back in and struck the Indian captain on the pads, prompting Whitehead to raise his finger. Gavaskar took exception to the decision, claiming he had hit it. There was no fighting the decision though, and Gavaskar trudged off for 70.
Lillee’s ‘helpful words’ to his rival, incensed Gavaskar who ordered his partner Chauhan walk off with him. The skipper’s action was widely criticised in the aftermath of the game and the crowd were generous in their booing as the pair headed for the pavilion.
However, they were met at the boundary by the Indian team manager, Wing Commander Shahid Durrani, and assistant manager Bapu Nadkarni. Their intervention was critical, seeing Gavaskar escorted off the field and Chauhan sent back to the wicket for the game to resume. It spared great embarrassment.
The controversy seemed to obscure two things. One, that Gavaskar became Lillee’s Australian record-equalling 248th Test wicket (matching Richie Benaud). The record was broken with number 249 – Chauhan – shortly afterwards.
Two, the ball had stayed quite low, even from someone of Lillee’s speed, when it crashed into Gavaskar’s leg, indicating the mayhem about to ensue.
INDIA HAVE THE LAST LAUGH
Dilip Vengsarkar (41), Vishwanath (30) and Patil (36) took up the reins and took India to 296-6 before the lower order collapsed. Yadav was absent through injury as India reached 324-9, setting a small target of 143 runs for the hosts.
It is here that the Test match took a surreal turn. Of India’s several improbable wins, it is difficult to think of one that was won on the back of defiant bowling as much as Melbourne 1981 – especially given the disarray the attack was in when Australia began their run chase an hour before stumps on day four.
At the close of play, Australia were 24-3, Chappell having been sensationally bowled round his legs by Ghavri for a first-ball duck – the same Ghavri who had been plundered for 106 wicket-less runs in Adelaide two weeks earlier. Lillee’s muted declaration later that evening that he would put his money on India if he were a betting man, would prove eerily prescient.
The wicket had become a minefield. There was no life in a spiteful pitch and the Australians fell into a hopeless chasm; hook, line and sinker.
Miraculously, Dev was back the following morning. Once the great all-rounder grabbed the ball, he did not rest until the job was done. Ghavri took two wickets, as did Doshi, but Dev’s spell of 5-28, bowling nearly 17 overs on the bounce, has become legend.
Dev bowled straight and uncomplicated, aided by a very willing accomplice in the form of the demonic pitch. The Aussies made no lasting impression in treacherous conditions, Walters top scoring with 18 not out as they were bowled out for 83.
EPILOGUE
India’s win tied the Test series at 1-1 and thanks to his contributions of 114 and 30, Vishwanath was named man of the match. Dennis Lillee was declared man of the series for his 21 wickets, including eight wickets at the MCG.
The drawn series remains India’s equal best performance Down Under. They also drew (0-0) on their next visit in 1985, while 2003-04 represents the only other time since then that India have left Australia with a share of the spoils.
As for Dev, this performance began a decade of dominance that sealed his reputation as one of the game’s leading all-rounders and a legend of Indian cricket.
He would soon be named captain of the team and go on to lead his side to victory in the World Cup two years later.
