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Duo who delighted fans
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They were little men, yet walked tall in the cricketing arena with their magical strokeplay. The glorious batsmanship of Gundappa Vishwanath and Sunil Gavaskar against the Caribbeans at Chepauk in the Seventies and Eighties holds special memories for cricket lovers in Chennai.
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A LITTLE man with magical wrists, twinkle toes, keen eye, and quicksilver reflexes facing off against a lethal pace predator... it was one duel under the hot Chennai sun that will not be clouded by the mists of time.
The gifted Gundappa Viswanath, a supreme match-winner in the Indian middle-order, took on a rampaging Andy Roberts, a red-hot fast bowler, in front of a packed M.A. Chidambaram crowd and it was just the kind of battle that makes Test match cricket so fascinating.
The fourth Test of the 1974-75 series was not short of drama on the first morning, with Roberts, getting the ball to seam and bounce wickedly, reducing India to 76 for six. Clive Lloyd's men appeared all set to take a winning 3-1 lead in the five-Test series.
Viswanath had other ideas. In a stirring exhibition of counter attack, he rallied with the lower order, conjuring a glittering 97 not out, every stroke a nugget. India got to 190, and proceeded to square the series, with the famous spin trio, weaving its web of deception.
Most who witnessed that glorious exhibition of batsmanship on a lively Chepauk pitch by a helmetless Viswanath, can recall those scorching square-cuts, those lovely drives, those delicate flicks, like it happened yesterday.
They can also recount with awe, Roberts' fiery bowling, the speed, the length, the line, the lateral movement, the sharp off-cutters, the two very distinct type of bouncers, one steeper than the other.
Indeed, the Trinidadian's seven for 64 - he picked up five for 57 in the second essay - is easily among the finest displays of pace bowling on Indian soil. And Gundappa Viswanath's masterpiece at Chepauk has its place alongside some of the greatest batting efforts knocks by an Indian.
The India-West Indies Tests have always had a special place in the minds and hearts of the cricket loving Chennai public, among the most knowledgeable and discerning spectators, who can so easily rise above jingoistic sentiments.
The Caribbeans of yore have been huge favourites with the Chennai crowd with their dashing and often cavalier brand of cricket that could cut across barriers. Yet, it is Viswanath, who will remain the eternal hero of Chepauk.
And the simple, wristy man was invariably in his element against the Caribbeans; his unbeaten 97 was followed by a gutsy 124 on a freak Chepauk wicket in 1978-79, where the ball invariably climbed from a length, posing a definite threat to the life and limb of the batsmen.
Those were the Kerry Packer days, that saw a huge chuck of the cricketing world being hopelessly divided, and the West Indies side that visited India under Alvin Kallicharran was a severely depleted one too.
However, that side still possessed Sylvester Clarke, who could bowl with considerable pace and bounce from a short run-up and an unsung Norbert Philips, not quite in the league of the West Indian fast bowling greats, but someone who could put the present crop of Caribbean pacemen to shame.
On a treacherous track, the duo, supported by the experienced and wily Vanburn Holder, could still prove a handful. After all, this was a pitch where off-spinner S. Venkatraghavan was able to get the ball jump chest high!
Viswanath was equal to the task though, adjusting to the differing bounce with ease, pulling off `impossible shots', and reaching a stirring hundred. And his second innings 31, when India chased 124 for a win, was a priceless effort as well in a low scoring game that witnessed the home team finally clinching the Test by three wickets.
The two Tests against the West Indians revealed Viswanath's technical excellence, apart from his skills as an exceptional stroke-maker. The efforts also brought to the fore his ability to deliver at the crunch, countering adverse wicket and situation. The short Vishy, a natural in every sense of the term, walked tall at No. 4.
And it was in Chepauk, during the 1983-84 season, that another diminutive man, master opener Sunil Gavaskar, carved out the highest individual score for by an Indian in Tests, a record that stood for 17 years, till V.V.S. Laxman produced that epic, series turning knock against Steve Waugh's Australians.
Clive Lloyd's West Indians had journeyed to India on a mission. The Caribbeans had been humbled in the summit clash of World Cup '83 at Lord's, by Kapil's Devils, and they sought revenge. With a pace attack comprising Michael Holding, Andy Roberts and Malcolm Marshall, men who would figure in the all-time gallery of pace greats, under his command, Lloyd, now in the twilight of his illustrious career, had the firepower to accomplish the job.
The West Indians did just that sweeping aside the Indian challenge in Kanpur, Ahmedabad and Calcutta (now Kolkata), and when the cricket caravan moved to Chennai for the sixth and the last Test, the Caribbeans had already grabbed a winning 3-0 lead. Yet, it had been an eventful series for Gavaskar, who had his bat knocked out of hand by a lightning quick Marshall in the first Test, but changing tactics had launched into an all-out onslaught on the West Indian quicks in the second Test in Delhi, his 121 consuming a mere 128 balls. It was a very different Gavaskar who equalled Sir Donald Bradman's mind-boggling record of 29 Test hundreds at Ferozeshah Kotla.
However, when he arrived in the Tamil Nadu capital, Gavaskar had indicated to the selectors and the team-management his desire bat at No.4, a wish that was granted rather reluctantly.
It did not matter really, for when Gavaskar walked to bat, India was 0 for two, Marshall firing out opener Aunshuman Gaekwad and No.3 Dilip Vengsarkar in a telling opening burst. It was a major pressure point for India, in pursuit of West Indies' first innings' 313.
Gavaskar was prepared for the challenge though. He had an ordinary Test at the Eden Gardens, the previous match, being dismissed for 0 and 20, and it was a question of pride, if not anything else, when he took guard at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.
What proceeded was a display of highest technical expertise, as Gavaskar took on the might of Holding, Roberts and Marshall with aplomb, his judgment and defence impeccable, his footwork faultless, his driving and flicking beautiful, and his powers of concentration awesome. It was the Mumbai man at his very best having an answer to everything the West Indians could bowl at him.
In all, Gavaskar occupied the crease for 644 minutes, faced 425 balls, and struck 23 imperious boundaries in a chanceless unbeaten 236, and he was still Mr. Infallible when Kapil Dev enforced the declaration at 451 for eight.
The rain-marred Test ended in a draw, however, Gavaskar had made the match memorable by surpassing Bradman's mark and registering his 30th hundred. In the process, he had proved a point to the doubters.
Indeed, two little big men, Gundappa Viswanath and Sunil Gavaskar, served up some special memories against the Caribbeans at the Chepauk. It's now the turn of another little giant - Sachin Tendulkar!
S. DINAKAR
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