I started following cricket as a schoolboy when Graham Dowling’s New Zealand toured India in 1969. The three match series was drawn 1-1 though New Zealand nearly won the third and final test at Hyderabad which ended in a draw amid rains and umpiring disputes.
The Indian team, led by Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, till then the Nawab of Pataudi, had some flamboyant batsmen like Hanumant Singh, Ml Jaisimah, Farokh Engineer, Ajit Wadekar and Syed Abid Ali and famous spin bowlers like EAS Prasanna, Bishen Singh Bedi and S Venkatraghaban. It was a series during which six cricketers made their international debut. They were openers Chetan Chauhan and Ashok Mankad, middle order batsmen Ambar Roy and Ashok Gandotra, all rounder Eknath Solkar and medium pacer Ajit Pai.
In the test series (limited over or T-20 cricket was not heard of till then), the Indian batting floundered time and again and the selectors were on the lookout for fresh talent. Not many were around. Ambar Roy, a top order Bengal left hander, was sent to bat at number eight in his first test. He made 48 containing ten fours which was hailed as a positive innings. Many thought that Roy would be around for some time. Gandotra was also picked to strengthen the batting. But both Roy and Gandotra disappeared from the national scene rather quickly. The cupboard appeared bare and the selectors summoned anyone who would score a brisk fifty in a domestic tie. No new talent was visible till Gundappa Viswanath burst into the scene with a century on debut against Bill lawry’s Australians who landed even as the Kiwis were departing.
The national team had at least four spinners who were of the highest class, but India’s medium fast repertoire, in particular, looked extremely thin.
This continued till the early 1970’s as I clearly remember Sunil Gavaskar opening the bowling with Eknath Solkar in the Chennai test against England during the 1972-73 tour. After he had delivered six balls, Bedi was given the new ball in the fourth over of the match on the first day. Solkar, who caught the imagination of fans with his fantastic fielding, dour batting and useful medium pace bowling, Mankad and Chauhan could seal permanent places in the team.
Mohinder Amarnath, who blossomed into one of India’s best batsmen against fast bowling, was blooded against the Aussies in 1969 as a medium pacer. Batsmen like Dilip Vengsarkar, Anshuman Gaekwad and Yashpal Sharma emerged from the shadows subsequently.
Nearly a half-century later, the Indian cricket scene presents a completely different look. As Virat Kohli’s Indian team gets into a grueling five-test tour of England at Birmingham today, a changed scenario prevails.
Though the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS laxman, Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag have retired from the game, the batting line-up is still considered strong as it has players of immense talent. Virat Kohli’s batting has dazzled the world while he has batters like lokesh Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Murli Vijay, Karun Nair and Cheteswar Pujara alongside him.
And these batsmen are aware that they would need to perform as talented cricketers are waiting to fill up the spots if one of them failed. Prithvi Shaw, a young and precocious talent who led the India Under-19 team to triumph in the last World Cup, could have walked into the team as opener. But he has to wait as no vacancies exist right now. Think of batsmen of the calibre of Mayank Agrawal, Shreyas Iyer, Kedar Jadhav, Manish Pandey, Ankit Bawne and Hanuma Vihari who are knocking on the doors of the selectors.
Unfortunately, India’s first choice wicket keeper Wriddhiman Saha is not in the squad because of injury. But Dinesh Karthik, his replacement, has several challengers to contend with who include Rishav Pant, Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson.
As regards pace bowling, it appears a far cry from the depressing 1969-70 season as five quality medium fast bowlers are ready for battle. Though Bhuvneshwar Kumar, needed badly in the English conditions, is sidelined with injury, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur and Jasprit Bumrah make up a formidable attack. But several medium pacers are waiting in the wings to break into the side. Siddharth Kaul and Deepak Chahar, who played in the limited overs matches, have to contend with Basil Thampi, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Prasidh Krishna, Ankit Rajput, Shivam Mavi, Dhawal Kulkarni and Ishan Porel who have impressed in domestic and IPl matches.
While Kuldeep Yadav has caught the imagination of cricket followers with his exploits in the limited over series, Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have managed to retain places in the test team. But spin bowlers of different style are coming along to present a strong challenge to them. leg spinner Yuzuvendra Chahal has done enough to keep the spotlight on him while off spinner Jayant Yadav, who has already played test cricket, left arm spinner Axar Patel and leg spinner Shreyash Gopal are in the queue. It augurs well for Indian cricket.
(The writer is a Bhubaneswar-based senior journalist)