Book_Roaring India

ROARING INDIA CRICKET 70s-80s

CELEBRATING

The 45th Anniversary

of

AJIT WADEKAR'S

Winning Ways in 70s-80s

At
San Marino Club, Troy, Michigan, USA

On
September 20, 2015







Roaring India Cricket 70s-80s

P.K. GUHA

GLOBAL HYDRAULICS MEDIA, LLC.

USA INDIA

Roaring India Cricket 70s-80s

By P. K. Guha

&

Yajurvindra Singh

©2015, G H Media Business Pvt. Ltd.
Revised Edi on, 2016

All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright no ce may be reproduced or u lized in any form or by any
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THE BOARD OF CONTROL FOR CRICKET IN INDIA

JAGMOHAN DALMIYA The President's Ofce 32, SI—IAKESPEARE SARANI.
KOLKATA – 700017
PRESIDENT
Phone : +91 33 2290 4774 / 2290 5565
+91 33 2290 6006 / 2290 62\6

Fax : +91 33 2290 2538
E-mail : [email protected] /[email protected]

31 July, 2015

Mr. P.K.Guha
Chairman
Organizing committee
Roaring India Cricket 70-80 Troy,
Michigan, USA

Dear Mr Guha,

Thank you very much for the warm sentiments expressed in your letter dated 25th of July 2015 and also for the kind invitation.

It is certainly a matter of delight that you would be conducting an evening event at Troy, Michigan on 20th of September 2015 titled
“Roaring India Cricket 70-80” wherein cricketers of repute would be present. Moreover, I am extremely happy to note that the then
Captain Ajit Wadekar and some of his team members who had brought enormous pride and respect for the country are also being
felicitated by you.

While I would have genuinely loved to be personally present on this joyous occasion but I am unable to do so due to prior commitments.

Nevertheless, my best wishes are always there for such a magnificent event.

Kind regards,
J. Dalmiya

MESSAGE FROM CHAIRMAN

HYDRAULIC MANAGEMENT GROUP

1910 BUCKTHORN CT. TROY, MICHIGAN - 48098

ROARING INDIA CRICKET 70s-80s, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

Over three decades back on June 25, 1985, I have had the opportunity of welcoming
Sunny Gavaskar at the same venue - San Marino club. Sunny was then a fully bloomed
Test Cricketer and was at the top of his playing career. Cricket world has completely
changed in this last 30 years.

This time around, he is with us along with Ajit Wadekar, under whose wings and
leadership he started his Test Cricket career in 1970.

It is with great pleasure let me welcome all of you to this unique cricket event,
celebrating the 45th anniversary of “ROARING INDIA CRICKET”. When under the
leadership of legendary Ajit Wadekar, the Indian cricket really bloomed, and learned
how to WIN. The legends like Sunil Gavaskar and G.R. Vishwanth were born.

My intention is to bring these Indian “Test” cricket legends of Seventies-eighties

under one umbrella is to celebrate the turn-around period of the Indian cricket
history.

What a turn around years 1970 was in the Caribbean island!! When the young
inexperienced Indian cricket team under the maiden leadership of Ajit Wadekar,
brought the mighty West Indies team, under the Strong Leadership of yet another
Cricket legend Gareld Sobers, to their knees.

Ajit's squad repeated the performance in England by overwhelming the formidable
English side in their own soil in 1971. This two back-to-back series wins, changed team
India's winning culture.

Let us celebrate this 45th anniversary of Ajit Wadekar's “WINNING WAYS” in a
distant land, where the game of Cricket is still a foreign Language.

Welcome to all and enjoy the evening with the Cricket Legends.

P.K. Guha
Chairman Organizing committee
“Roaring India Cricket 70s-80s”
www.hydraulicmanagement.com
www.globalhydraulicjournal.com

CRANE-BEL MESSAGE FROM CHAIRMAN

THE FORCE TO MOVE CRANE-BEL GROUP of COMPANIES
&

G H MEDIA BUSINESS P. LIMITED

Being a lover of Cricket from childhood, my father used to tell me a lot and discuss
about India's Cricket Legends including Prof. Dinkar Balwant Deodhar, Vijay Hazare,
C K Nayudu, Lala Amarnath, Nawab M.A.K. Pataudi; during my early childhood. Then in
due course of time I have been fan of most of Legendary cricketers, including Ajit
Wadekar, Mohd. Azharuddin, Bishen Singh Bedi, Anil Kumble, Vinoo Mankad, Vijay
Merchant, Sachin Tendulkar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Farokh
Engineer, Karsan Ghavri, Syed Abid Ali, G R Viswanath, Chetan Chauhan,
B S Chandrashekhar, Erapalli Prasanna and Padmakar Shivalkar.

In my childhood I have been thinking to be a legendary cricketer, but later I took a
decision that I will become Legendary Engineer. Hence I started doing lot of studies
to become a Topper & Winner of National Scholarship. Subsequently I Excelled in
Engineering also and became a Top Mechanical Engineer.

This way I could not become a legendary cricketer, but then I decided that I shall
involve myself in R&D, Innovations Productivity Enhancement, Industrial Growth,
Competitiveness, Automation, Pro-Active Maintenance,Energy Conservation and
Environmental protection. During the above I was Honoured with 3 National Awards,
Udyog Patra Award, National Integrity Award and Honoured by Delhi Technological
University in Celebrating Excellence.

Subsequently I devoted my life for the Society, Community and Industries by
offering a wide range of Innovative Hydraulic Machines, Systems and Equipment for
various industrial segments and started the publication of world's rst Global
Journals to spread knowledge and expertise worldwide through our publications:
Global Hydraulics Journals and Global Industrial Journals.

It gives me pleasure to sponsor the Event and publishing the Coffee Table Book
“Roaring India Cricket 70s – 80s.

Er. Ashok Kumar Gupta
Well Reputed Member of many Social, Industrial & Educational Institutions and Top
Organizations like CII, IMTMA, FICCI, FPSI, EEPC, IGCC, GMA, AIMO, FIEO etc.

AJIT WADEKAR

TEAM INDIA CAPTAIN 1970-1974

AJIT WADEKAR – EKNATH SOLKAR
1970-71

Hi Eki,

I don't know whether you are in better company up there but down here especially in
our “SPORTSFIELD CHS” where you were one of it's promoters, we do miss you even
now. You didn't have to leave us at such an early age of yours.

To me, as your captain on the tours to West Indies and England way back in 1971, you

were one of my best assets apart from Sunny and Sardesai from Bombay in the team.
Yes, with your all round qualities with bat and ball and especially excelling in elding at
forward short-leg was not only a great support to me but to our great spinning quartet
too. Had it been not for you , Sunny and our spinners, it wouldn't have been possible
for me to register those victories against them on their own soil for the rst time in
the history of Indian cricket.

I cannot forget the catch you took to dismiss Alan Knott at the decisive Oval test in
England, thereby winning the test and series too. Well, just before Knott came on to
bat in the 2nd innings at Oval, You came to me and asked my permission whether he
could remove the bails before he takes a guard as it would disturb him scycologically
and more so, superstitiously as he had the habit of doing so with the bail. I said go
ahead. Rest is history. Just after 2 deliveries he faced, he scooped a catch and you
dived right in front of him to hold it just off few inches from the ground.

Even in the 1st test at Lord's, you caught Jeff Boycott at forward short leg off his
bat and pad and when he stood there despite being given out, you told him in no
uncertain manner, that he should go and tell his girl friend that he wasn't out and that
he had always been Solkar's bunny as either he had got him out or caught him fairly
and squarely too.

That were you Eki. Always gutsy and full of condence. You did same to Sir Gary
Sobers in WI just 3 months earlier when he asked you to play with your bat instead of
pads. You went to him at the end of the over and told him that he should bowl his
stuff and he would bat his own stuff-really courageous.
Take care and we will sooner or later, join you to revive all these great memories once
again-Your former captain-Ajit Wadekar.

EKI SOLKAR

CHETAN CHAUHAN

I was extremely glad to be a part of Indian Cricket in the era between 70-80s of the
Indian team.
It is a fact that Indian Cricket turned around in this period from being losers to being
winners in Test Cricket. The greatest contribution came from the then Captain
Ajit Wadekar, who won the series in West Indies and subsequently in England i.e. on
foreign soil.

After the playing days, all of us have scattered in different cities in the country and
outside India and seldom meet. The organizing of Roaring India Cricket has given us an
opportunity to be together, though not at home, but in Troy Michigan.

Many players contributed to the Indian team during this period. the main person was
Sunil Gavaskar, who made his debut in 1971 against West Indies and single-handedly
contributed with batting during this period and became the best batsman of India. He
was the rst person to score more than 10,000 runs in Test Cricket.

In batting the persons who supported him were G.R. Viswanth and Dilip Vengsarkar.
Viswanath was an artist and by the time people realized he had already scored runs.
Dilip Vengsarkar, who scored three centuries in successive Test series at Lords was
not far behind. Farokh Engineer, a great character on the eld and off the eld, was
one of the best wicket keepers, who contributed as a wicket keeper and also as a
batsman.

Who can forget Karsan Ghavri’s clean bowling, Greg Chappel at Malbourne in the third
test in 1980-81 series of Australia? It completely changed the game and we LWDA
drew the series for the rst time in Australia. Syed Abid Ali was a very useful all-
rounder who opened testan with me when I made by debut in 1969 under Nawab of

Pataudi. Yajurvindra Singh my compatriot for Maharashtra state and Indian a useful
middle order batsman and a specialist at Forward short leg eld position.

My great friend Padmakar Shivalkar unfortunately could not play for the country as
during his period the Indian team and great left-arm spinners Bishen Singh Bedi &
Dilip Doshi. Venkat Raghavan was a versatile player. He was our advisor as a he new
cricket rules thoroughly. Unfortunately he also could not play continuously as Erapalli
Prasanna was preferred over him but his contribution to Indian cricket cannot be
forgotten.

It will be a pleasure to meet all the colleagues of mine and share the experience of
the good old days. We gave our best to the Indian team and won Test Cricket Series
in India as well as in foreign countries during this period.

I heartily congratulate you and appreciate this gesture of your Organisation for
remembering the legends of Indian Cricket of the 70s.

Former Cricketer Chetan Chauhan, a Well Known Personality,
Inaugurated 5th Issue of GLOBAL HYDRAULICS JOURNAL
by Ribbon Cutting at WIN INDIA-2014

Chetan Chauhan, a famous personality of Indian
Cricket, has inaugurated our 5th issue with special
emphasis on “Hydraulics in Construction
Industries” in WIN INDIA, MDA Show on 11th
December 2014 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
Chetan Chauhan is vice president of DDCA and a
former cricketer who played 40 Test matches for
India. He played most of his international cricket in
the late 1970s and was the regular opening partner
of Sunil Gavaskar during that period.

Chauhan made his test debut against New Zealand
at Mumbai. He was the first player in test history
to score more than 2000 runs without a hundred.
He was a heavy run-getter in domestic cricket, and
represented Maharashtra and Delhi in the Ranji
Trophy competition. He was twice a member of
parliament, elected to the Lok Sabha from Amroha
in Uttar Pradesh. Chauhan received the Arjuna
Award in 1981. He is a member of the Bhartiya
Janata Party.

DILIP VENGSARKAR
ON HIS THREE CONSECUTIVE TONS AT THE LORD'S

This is the rst time I am writing on my three consecutive Test tons at the Mecca of
Cricket, the Lord's Cricket ground. When I was asked to write about it by my dear friend
of more than 30 years, Mr. P. K. Guha for the brochure he would be publishing during the
grand dinner he has organised for the Indian community at Detroit that I believe would
be attended by some of the stalwarts who played the game in the 70s and 80s, I
immediately said YES.

As school children, we would listen to John Arlott and the likes for hours on BBC either
during the Ashes series or England versus India whenever the matches were played at the
Headquarters of Cricket. The reception on the BBC was not so clear then and I guess that
made the commentary more intriguing as we had listen to it very carefully.

It's a dream of every young cricketer to play at the Lord's and I was certainly no
exception. It was my rst tour of England way back in 1979 and before the tour some of
my colleagues had warned me not only about the moving ball but also that “if you don't
score runs in England, you won't be rated as a batsman at the Test level”. So, there was
always a pressure to perform. Luckily I had a good Test series against the West Indies
but that was in India and being a predominantly front foot player in the early days of my
career, I was not given much chance to succeed by a couple of former Test cricketers who
had toured England with moderate success.

The rst Test at Edgbaston saw David Gower score a double hundred and Geoff Boycott a
well accumulated hundred. The English piled on a huge total that put us under pressure
and the likes of Botham, Willis, Mike Hendrik and Edmonds didn't make life easier for us
either. I got 22 and 6. Well, the knives were being sharpened and I thought to myself that
one more failure and I would be sitting on the reserve bench for the rest of the tour.

And, that did almost happen. The rst innings at the Lord's, we had to leave the eld and
come back again due to the rain as many as three times before I could open the account.
Well, I got one around the off stump from Hendricks and was gobbled up by Botham in the
second slip. By the time I had a second opportunity, a thought came to my mind whether I
would get a pair at the Lord's!!

We had to save the Test match to be alive in the series and so we did and that too in style.
I scored a match-saving (and a face-saving too) hundred (a 2nd hundred by an Indian after
the great Vinoo Mankad did in 1952). I was elated and got so many congratulatory
telegrams from back home. It was a great feeling.

The 1982 one was again when India had its back to the wall. I did score 157 and since I was
very well set and English bowlers tired, I kicked myself for not going for a big innings and
save the game.

The 1986 was a very memorable as it was for the rst and till date for the only time
India has won a Test match at the Lord's. I guess, at that time, I was at the peak of
my career and being named amongst the very best in the world by the Wisden monthly
cricket magazine, it was the ultimate feeling of satisfaction. I was in great form and
couldn't do a thing wrong. That we won the series 2-0 and I was named Man of the
series was like icing on the cake.

MESSAGE FROM FAROKH ENGINEER

“PK” who's been a trusted friend of all the cricketers
worldwide (specially the Indian cricketers) has taken
great pains in organizing this wonderful event in Detroit
on September 20, 2015 to felicitate a group of
cricketers, who brought credit to India, for back-to-
back victories in the West Indies and England.

Ajit Wadekar, Sunny Gavaskar, Vishwanath, Dilip
Vengsarkar, Chetan Chauhan, Karsan Ghavri, B.S.
Chandrashekhar and myself to name a few are all coming
to Troy, Michigan, to support PK and his team to ensure this event is a huge success.

Detroit----- Here we come! Come in force and join us to celebrate the 45th
anniversary of Ajit Wadekar showing us the winning way, away from home.

Farokh Engineer
Lancashire
England

GAUTAM BHATTACHARYA

Gautam Bhattacharya, one of India's leading Cricket Writers and an Author has been
working with Kolkata's ABP Group for the last three decades. His major works involve
a denitive book on Tendulkar titled SACH and Pankaj Roy's authorized Biography.

The atmosphere seemed picture-perfect for a rare intimate interaction with the man
who was often thought standofsh and reclusive.

But the mood on that cloudy afternoon at his stylishly furnished Vasant Vihar
bungalow was one of candour and introspection. As an interviewer you almost felt that
this presented a god-send opportunity to ask questions you were dying to ask all
thsese years. And to be honest, Tiger Pataudi opening up emotionally was such a rare
sight.

I brought up the subject of death. Usually a forbidden topic and more so because
Tiger's fatal bout with illness had begun. He had just got back home after a brief
period of hospitalization.

Interestingly once the topic was raised, Tiger shook his head. To my utter surprise it
was not the usual one liner that he used frequently to ward off invasions on privacy.
He simply said "Half my team has gone up. Jaisimha, Hanumant, Manjrekar, Sardesai
they are all there. So I will have company for sure. But my only prayer to the almighty
is that God lets me go away painlessly."

This of course presented the ideal time to bring up 1971. Previous efforts to broach
this topic had not met with very straight responses. So I asked him directly ---Is it
true that you didn't praise India's twin victories in 1971 wholeheartedly?

The discussion suddenly seemed to hit an air pocket. Pataudi paused for a thought and

then retorted, "Ask Ajit as to who had sent him the rst congratulatory telegram in
West Indies?" The pathway turned towards one Vijay Merchant and on the most
controversial casting vote in Indian Cricket. Pataudi explained how, he, during the last
one year prior to that fateful selection had regular tiffs with the Chairman. He felt
that the casting vote was a natural fall out and perhaps had little to do with
Merchant trying to settle an historical score. Only two questions and the feel- good
mood had evaporated. Tiger was back to what suited him best--one liner.

I immediately knew it was time for pack up, and while coming out realized my mistake.
1971 even after forty years was much more than an air pocket. All his life the
erstwhile Nawab of Pataudi couldn't come to terms with the fact that he had sown
the seeds and someone else had walked away with the fruits. He was too polished to
express it openly but at times the disappointed body language was more than a tell-
tale.

Legend has it that he and his successor--- a good, Maharastrian Brahmin had met the
evening before at CCI. Ajit Wadekar had a ready request. He wasn't amongst runs of
late and had apprehensions about the team selection. So he quipped,

"Tiger please don't forget my name once you become the Captain tomorrow."

Strangely, Pataudi said the same, " Jitiya (Wadekar's pet name) I presume you might
become the Captain. Then do keep me in the side."

Today in this era of 24x7 news television and digital media, Pataudi would surely have
not escaped from the query that prior to the selection he seemed perfectly available
to lead India. And then just after an unexpected captaincy removal, he withdrew from
the tour citing personal reasons? How strange is that?

To his eternal credit Ajit Wadekar never raised this. He is still comfortable with the
truth that Pataudi decided to join politics and thus could not make himself available.
Apparently they had a telephonic conversation on the day of the selection. Pataudi had
called the Mumbaikar and excused himself from the team.

While doing a research on the historic 1971 series, I was often left wondering
whatever the real reasons of Tiger opting out from the tour were, that had a huge
bearing on the series. To start with-- a Dilip Sardesai would not have made the tour.
The ever- imposing Merchant apparently had opposed his selection. That the India
discard nally boarded the Trinidad bound ight was because the new Captain
backed him relentlessly Subsequently once Sardesai returned home after having

scored those game changing double hundreds and hundreds in the Caribbean, the same
Merchant hailed him 'The Renaissance Man of Indian Cricket.' Sardesai was quick to
despatch the praise in his close circles by calling Merchant a 'Great Hypocrite'.

Secondly, had Pataudi made the tour it would have been extremely difcult for
Wadekar to rmly establish the control of the team. Pataudi was such a towering
gure both cricket and status-wise that it was only a Gavaskar who could take him on
and win. Remember Wadekar was a soft-spoken, much affable man. He was no
Gavaskar!

But he was Wadekar - brilliant in his own way! Academic brilliance helped him to the
extent that he could readily nd the loopholes and act. He could see that the team
was still divided between seniors and Juniors. And that there was an upper middle
class silk shirt gang which consciously or unconsciously made the junior cricketers
deeply insecure. Wadekar also realized on foreign, unhelpful conditions with this
dismal pace bowling attack it was almost pointless to rst look for a win and then lose.
The series of losses were affecting the team's morale badly.

So he rst looked to draw on unhelpful conditions and only then thought off a victory.
To put it simply, Wadekar curbed unnecessary amboyance. A banker by profession,
he taught the team to play within it's limitations.

To a few Pataudi loyalists (in the right sense of the term) so used to the aggressive
methodology of their favourite skipper this safety- rst tactics was alien. Someone
like Bishan Bedi openly voiced his disgust at the team meeting. But the tactics
resulted in beter performance and world cricket immediately took notice of this new
look India. From a bunch of gallant losers they were suddenly transformed into a
mean, ghting outt. Wadekar knew the rules of corporate banking too well to
badmouth the previous boss once he took charge. Instead he encouraged the players
to have a daily drinking buffuet in his hotel suite. Salim Durrani was made in charge of
the bar. In those days there were hardly any options apart from Beer, Rum or whisky.
But it was not a question of options but of team bonding. The players would meet
every night for this drinking session and get closer.

The partnership which Sardesai and Solkar had in Jamaica when everything seemed
lost must rank as one of the most dening partnerships in Indian cricket. Along with
Laxman and Dravid's forty years later in Kolkata. But the way this team recovered
from the occasional slumps and fought back, had a lot to do with team spirit. With M L

Jaisimha the senior statesman leading by example. He had to be dropped during the
series. But when Wadekar went to his room and broke the sad piece of news Jai
remained completely unaffected. Kept on encouraging the juniors and provided tips to
the Captain if and when necessary.

And of course there was a Sunil Manohar Gavaskar to make breathings easier for the
new Captain. Back in the early seventies India didn't have a nuclear weapon. Her
millionaires were hardly recognized in other parts of the world. Unemployment had
escalated in the country. There was constant problem with the foodgrains production.
Widespread poverty had set in. The youth had no role model. Not a single global
winner to derive condence from. Gavaskar arrived at this juncture and completely
changed the rules of the game. Wadekar, sensing the young man's limitless potentials
allowed him to grow like a doting younger brother. So began the aura of Gavaskar
alongside a seasoned Sardesai.

In later years some bigwigs in Indian cricket tried looking down upon Wadekar's
success by labelling him a Lucky captain. Someone like Raj Singh Dungarpur even said
in his presence Ajit, you are a Muqaddar ka Sikandar. Certain sections of the English
media also played their part to bring him down and attribute all the good things to his
predecessor. The glow of Raj and the aristocracy was so daunting that a middle class

Maharastrian in comparison looked like a silent movie.

To his enormous credit Wadekar didn't react. In his retirement years when he came
back to reshape Azhar's team as the Cricket manager, possibly that was when the
Indian media realized what happened in the early seventies was certainly not a uke.

Something told me that afternoon at the Pataudi residence that the owner also knew.
He may not have admitted in public. But deep inside Tiger Pataudi knew that the rise
of the middle class was well deserving. Forget the formal congratulatory telegram.

SUNIL GAVASKAR

MADE TEST DEBUT IN MARCH 1971

When my old friend P. K. Guha invited me to be part of
the event to celebrate India's winning streak in the
1970s under the captaincy of Ajit Wadekar, I jumped
at the opportunity. Meeting up with old friends is
always special and catching up with former teammates
and colleagues even more so. Over the last couple of
years, I have had the pleasure of organising a few get-
togethers of players from my era, and some earlier
than that, and those evenings have been really
memorable and special.

Life does not wait for anyone, not even the most active
of sportspersons, and neither does age. Some have not
been treated as kindly by life and age as some others,
but to see the special efforts that these former
colleagues make to attend the get-togethers has been

indeed most touching and heart-warming. This get-together at
Troy, Michigan should also be a fun event with lots of old stories,
good natured leg pulling and loads of laughs.

There are enough characters there who will tell a good tale, no
doubt embellished with lots of spice and masala to make it even
more interesting. Ajit always has a few lovely stories, usually at
my expense, and Farokh should not be too far behind. The other
'Sunny' Yajurvindra Singh also can get laughs with his manner of
telling tales and it really is an evening that I am looking forward
to. However, it is also important to say that this would not have been possible if India
had not had that wonderful streak under Wadekar. He had been appointed skipper
instead of the popular Tiger Pataudi, and with the latter making himself unavailable
for the tour, Wadekar was left without one of his best batsman, and that too for a
tour of the West Indies. Ajit realised that his team had to be a ne blend of youth
and experience and so he plumped for Jaisimha, Sardesai, Durani to be in the team.
Unfortunately, Farokh was not considered for the tour because he had not played in
any of the Ranji or Duleep Trophy matches just before the selection of the team.

Farokh was one of those rare Indian players who had been signed by an English county,

Lancashire, when signing an overseas player really meant something. Travel in those
days wasn't easy, and so he did not return to India for the domestic season and so
was left out of the team for the West Indies. In hindsight, that may have actually
worked in my favour since if he had been selected, then he would have opened the
innings along with Ashok Mankad who was the other established opener then. The
norm that he should have played in the domestic season to be eligible to be selected
was thrown out of the window immediately after the West Indies tour was nished.

The tour to England that followed a couple of months later had not only Farokh but
also P. Krishnamurthy and Syed Kirmani as wicketkeepers. Farokh had been given the
permission to play for his county Lancashire but to make himself available for the
Test matches. Amazing isn't it? Just a few months earlier,he was not selected since
he didn't play domestic cricket, but after three months where he still had not played
any domestic cricket, he was selected for the England tour.

The one disappointment for me was that my hero M. L. Jaisimha and Salim Durani were
not selected for the England trip that followed the West Indies tour. Both these
wonderful people had helped me so much on my debut tour of the West Indies that it
would have been really terric to have had them on the England tour as well. How I
wished then that 374 of my runs could have been distributed to these two so that

their performances would have been such that they would have been on the ight to
England. As a debutant, an aggregate of 400 would have denitely got me picked for
the England tour, so those extra runs could well have been distributed to Jai and
Salimbhai. Of course, that doesn't happen in cricket but the thought was there when
the names were announced for England.
B. S. Chandrasekhar, who hadn't been picked for West Indies, was brought back for
the England tour and it once again showed Wadekar's shrewd thinking. Horses for
courses, is an old saying, but Wadekar knew the English weakness against wrist
spinners and wanted to exploit it. How well did Chandra respond; he bowled England
out at the Oval and opened the doors for a win for us. That was duly achieved thanks
to some ne batting by Wadekar, Sardesai, Gundappa Viswanath and then the nal
winning ourish from Farokh Some of the guys who were part of those two winning
tours have left us but I'm sure will be watching from above and enjoying the evening.
As Farokh would tell Eknath Solkar after another bit of leg pulling, 'Ekki, we are not
laughing at you, but with you'. Yes sir! That's the kind of evening I am looking forward
too at Troy, Michigan. Thanks P. K. for making it happen.

YAJURVINDRA SINGH

YAJURVINDRA SINGH NAWAB M.A.K. PATAUDI

Tiger Tiger Burning Bright

70th birthday of one of the greatest cricketers seen not only in India, but around the
world - Nawab Mansur Ali Khan of Pataudi.

The greatness of Tiger is not through what a layman would judge - cricket statistics -
but the challenge that he overcame to perform at the highest level of the game.

Tiger just out of college as a youngster was rated as one of the most exciting young
cricketers in the world. He had scored a scintillating century against the world's most
dreaded fast bowler, Fred Trueman. Shortly thereafter, he met with a cruel blow of a
car accident and a tiny glass particle embedded itself and damaged his retina.

Most people with his wealth and education would have found solace in the comfort of
their palace and family fortune. But the young Nawab of Pataudi was of a different
DNA. His performance in England with both his eyes had already put him in contention
for a place in the Indian side that was to play England in 1961. He was called upon for a
trial selection game and a half-century made him a certainty for a Test cap.

Being a brave superlative sportsman from the royal stalk, he did not reveal his
discomfort as regards his vision. Fortunately for the cricketing world, there was no
serious physical tness tests. Tiger would have been denitely a non-starter as he was
seeing two balls. Years later when I asked him about how he saw the correct ball, he
jokingly said that the inner one would be the natural choice as that was closer and it
proved correct, Thank heavens!

Imagine a ball (actually two of them) from either Wes Hall, Roy Gilchrist, Charlie
Grifth or all the famous fast bowlers of the years gone being hurled at nearly

100mph on an uncovered wicket, with no protection and following the back foot no-ball
rule of that time. The bowlers overstepped the front crease and actually bowled from
not 22 yards, but 18 yards. Against these odds, Tiger decided to cover his bad eye
with the cap and play with only his good one and became India's best batsman in the
1960s. He was the darling of India's cricketing world and his slim, graceful
movements, debonair looks and royal presence brought thousands of spectators to
grace his majesty's durbar, the cricket ground. He went on to play for India for
nearly 15 long years, scored nearly 3000 Test runs in 46 Test matches and leading
India in 40 of them. A remarkable feat!

Colin Milburn, the burly England batsman lost his left eye in an accident which ended
his international career. I was fortunate to meet Milburn during India's tour to
England in 1979 when he was coach of a university. He told us how great Tiger must
have been as a cricketer, as when he lost his eye, he thought he would be able to make
a comeback but failed miserably.

Today we all realise the importance of the famous hand eye co-ordination as Virender
Sehwag has blossomed with these adjectives. Sachin Tendulkar's tenure is marveled
and Dhoni's captaincy is admired, but how can one weigh the genius of a man who was
considered to be one of the best elders in the world, a shrewd captain who won the

rst overseas Test and series for India (vs NZ in 1967-68) was brought back to play
for India against the West Indies in 1974-75 only for his captaincy. He made the
Indian team believe that they could win and gave us the bowling quartet of Bishan
Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and S Venkatraghavan and the
batting maestro Gundappa Vishwanath.

The great Don Bradman summed it up beautifully to him in the Green Room at
Melbourne after Tiger's super performance with the bat in both the innings of the
Test match (75 and 85), where due to a hamstring injury he played one of the most
admired knocks ever played on that ground, with one leg and one eye. “I would have
been proud to have played some of the shots that you did,” said The Don about one of
the greatest cricketers to wear the India cap. The true Nawab is still batting on 70,
an age when legends have only one milestone and that is a hats-off century.

Contents Page
No.

1. Roaring India Cricket 70s – 80s ............... 1
7
2. It began with 1970 West Indies Tour ............... 16
17
3. Achievements of the Legendary Invited Cricketers ............... 21
27
a) Ajit Wadekar ............... 31
34
b) Sunil Gavaskar ............... 39
43
c) Dilip Vengsarkar ............... 47
51
d) G. R. Viswanath ............... 55
58
e) Chetan Chauhan ............... 63
66
f) Farokh Engineer ............... 101

g) Karsan Ghavri ...............

h) Yajurvindra Singh ...............

i) Syed Abid Ali ...............

j) Padmakar Shivalkar ...............

k) . S. Chandrashekhar ...............

l) Erapalli Prasanna ...............

4. Highs & Lows of Indian Cricket : 1926-2000 ...............

5. Sponsors and Contributors ...............



ROARING INDIA CRICKET 70s-80s

1910 BUCKTHORN COURT, TROY, MICHIGAN, USA- 48098 – 248 804 2350
www.roaringindiancricket.com

P. K. GUHA AJIT WADEKAR

ROARING INDIA CRICKET 70s-80s 1

WHAT IS “ROARING INDIA CRICKET”
and WHY THIS EVENT

“ROARING” as the word implies, the Indian cricket “ROARED” to the top of the
Cricket world in 1970.

Up un-till that period, the Indian Cricket had few Domestic wins here and there,
against lowly placed international cricket playing countries. Till 1970, Indian Cricket
never registered any Test Match win away from home, let alone a complete series.

In 1970, as known to all Cricket enthusiasts, The lowly placed Indian Cricket team
under the raw and maiden leadership of AJIT WADEKAR, “ROARED” to beat mighty
West Indies team under the great GARY SOBERS, AT THEIR OWN HOME IN THE
CARRIBEAN ISLAND.

As known to many, Ajit Wadekar's men just to prove that the West Indies series win
was not a uke, the Gang beat England on English soil, rst time ever, in the history of
“Test Cricket” This win too was against a formidable English team under the
leadership of mighty Ray Illingworth.

This back-to-back Test cricket series wins created a huge “Roar” in India and aboard.

2 ROARING INDIA CRICKET 70s-80s

The “ROARING” created a huge impact in Indian cricket as a whole and country won
number of test series away from home and as well at home since then.

Ajit wadekar's heroes changed the Cricket culture and the sense of winning habit
amongst the newborn Indian Cricketers.

Early on, the “WINNING HYPE” was well recognized by the Indian Prime
Minister/Ministers/President and all ofcial dignitaries, one can think of. But all these
adoration over period of time naturally zzled out, and the Wadekar's heroes went
into oblivion.

This event is to remember the past to ensure that we recognize that, our present
successes in International cricket has come from AJIT WADEKAR'S 1970 thru 72
back-to-back three (3) Test series wins.

This is our way of saying “Thank you AJIT and your men” and therefore, the
formulation of the event “ROARING INDIA CRICKET 70-80”, away from home.

A new star was born during the tenure of Ajit's winning streak. SUNIL MANOHAR
GAVASKAR. A new direction of Indian cricket began.

This will be the 45th anniversary of Ajit Wadekar's 1970 leadership, which brought

ROARING INDIA CRICKET 70s-80s 3

Indian cricket the due glory.

All the men of his original team are obviously aging with travel restrictions. In fact 5
of them are no more with us. Namely, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, M.L. Jaisimha, Dilip
Sardesai, Ashok Mankad and P. Krishnamurthy. Let's us take a bow in their memory
and remember them for their contribution and feat.

Therefore, we thought to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the winning streak, rather
than waiting for the 50th one. Which, God permits, we may do it.

Each one of the players invited has become a cricket legend by their own right and
contribution to the Indian cricket.

Not to mention the great Sunil Gavaskar, G.R. Vishwanath (not quite well to travel –
while going to press), the others Like Farokh Engineers, Dilip Vengsarkar, Chetan
Chauhan, B.S. Chandrashekhar, Karsan Ghavri, Abid Ali, Yajurvindra Singh and
Padmakar Shivalkar, all have contributed hugely in that era, to the Indian cricket.

During this era, Sunil Gavaskar went on amassing record number of centuries in Test
Matches and Dilip Vengsarkar being the only foreigner to have scored 3 TONS in a
row on 3 consecutive appearances at LORD'S, the Mecca of all cricket grounds.

During the event evening, the extraordinary performances and feats of each one of

4 ROARING INDIA CRICKET 70s-80s

the living members of the team will be narrated and remembered thru old videos and
still clippings.

The event MC will be Farokh Engineer and Prince Yajurvindra Singh, supported by
Gautam Bhattacharya, sports editor of Anand Bazar Patrika. They will extract
unheard stories and anecdotes from the attending legendary players to rekindle past
memories, in a lighthearted way.

Few large Video screens would be used for displaying the evening proceeding and hall
will be pasted with nostalgic pictures of all the stalwarts, to bring back the memories
of Ajit Wadekar's Heroes.

At the end of the event a KOOKBURRA Cricket bat signed by all the legendary
Cricketers will be auctioned. As well, all the legends will donate their playing days
many Cricket memorabilia, for auction for the Charity.

Enjoy the evening to the fullest.

P.K. Guha
Chairman
ROARING INDIA CRICKET 70s-80s

ROARING INDIA CRICKET 70s-80s 5

6 ROARING INDIA CRICKET 70s-80s

ROARING INDIA CRICKET 70s-80s

IT ALL BEGAN WITH 1970 WEST INDIES TOUR

GROUP PICTURE OF AJIT WADEKAR'S 1970 TEAM TO WEST INDIES 7
SKIPPER AJIT WADEKAR IN THE CENTER IN LIGHT SUIT.

SUNIL GAVASKAR'S (2ND FROM RIGHT) MAIDEN OVERSEAS TRIP.
G.R. VISWANATH LEFT OF AJIT

ROARING INDIA CRICKET 70s-80s

ROARING INDIA CRICKET 70s-80s

SAN MARINO CLUB, TROY, MICHIGAN, USA
SEPTEMBER 20, 2015

CELEBRATING THE 45TH ANNIVERSARY OF AJIT WADEKAR'S WINNING WAYS IN 70-80

AJIT WADEKAR INTRODUCING FAROKH ENGINEER TO QUEEN ELIZABETH.
DILIP SARDESAI IS WAITING FOR HIS TURN

8 ROARING INDIA CRICKET 70s-80s

ROARING INDIA CRICKET 70s-80s

SAN MARINO CLUB, TROY, MICHIGAN, USA

SEPTEMBER 20, 2015
CELEBRATING THE 45TH ANNIVERSARY OF AJIT WADEKAR'S WINNING WAYS IN 70-80

THEN AJIT WADEKAR NOW

AJIT WADEKAR SHOWED THE INDIAN CRICKET IN THE SEVENTIES
THE “WINNING WAYS”, WITH BACK TO BACK SERIES

WIN AGAINST WEST INDIES IN 1970 AND ENGLAND IN 1970, ON THEIR SOIL

ROARING INDIA CRICKET 70s-80s 9

ROARING INDIA CRICKET 70s-80s

GUNDAPPA VISHWANATH

SCORED MAIDEN TEST CENTURY IN HIS FIRST EVER TEST MATCH.
CONTRIBUTED MANY TEST HUNDREDS

WITH HIS MAGNIFICENT SQUARE CUTS AND DRIVES.
ONE OF THE MOST PROLIFIC INDIA BATSMAN HAS EVER PRODUCED.

10 ROARING INDIA CRICKET 70s-80s