History of Indian cricket-1970s
Indian cricket in the 1970’s had much to brag about. Winning against West Indies and England was one of the greatest landmarks achieved by the Indian team till then.
India’s tour of West Indies – 1970-71
The 1970-71 tour of West Indies was important for three primary reasons. The first one being that it was India’s first victory in the Caribbean; the second one was the spirit and the grit of the team throughout the series and the third one, being the most important, the emergence of Sunil Gavaskar who would go on to secure his place in cricket’s Hall of Fame.
The Indians sniffed their first taste to glory in the second match at Post of Spain where they defeated the West Indies by 7 wickets. The West Indies were bowled out for a mere 214 on the board in the first innings. The Indians replied with a masterful 112 by Dilip Sardesai and 65 to the name of Sunil Gavaskar playing in his maiden Test.
After a first innings lead of 138, the Indians managed to bowl out the West Indies in the second innings and were set a target of 124 runs. It was again a half-century by Gavaskar that helped India achieve the target.
The remaining Tests did not threaten to overturn the lead that the Indians had managed to gain. They won the series against the West Indians 1-0.
Arrival of Gavaskar - 1971
Gavaskar’s neoteric style of batting was a benchmark for all to see. Not even the greatest practitioners of clairvoyance could have predicted the onset of a career that would leave indelible prints on the annals of Indian cricket history. He gave flesh and blood to the dwindling spirit of the team. With 774 runs in his debut series at an average of 154.80, Gavaskar soon became a force to reckon with.
India topple England – 1971
Fresh after their victory against the West Indies, a rejuvenated Indian side went to England to do what had been never done before. They defeated the English in their own backyard.
After the first two Tests ended in a draw, the Indians went on to clinch the Third Test at Kennington Oval, London by 4 wickets. The English went on to score 355 in the first innings. The Indians were bowled out for a mere 284. The second innings saw the Englishmen being bowled out for 101 thanks to some fine bowling by Bhagwat Chandrasekhar.
The Indians had no difficulty in chasing the target of 173 runs due to vital contributions by Ajit Wadekar and Dilip Sardesai. This way the Indians made history by winning the series 1- 0.
The 1975 Cricket World Cup
The year 1975 saw the first World Cup being organized in England. Each side played a total of 60 overs. India were grouped with England, New Zealand and East Africa.
India began their World Cup journey under dubious circumstances. With the English putting up a mighty score of 334, Gavaskar did not do much good for the team by scoring 36 off 174 balls. This led to a lot of criticism and Gavaskar’s credibility came into question.
India’s remaining World Cup campaign was more or less subdued. After an easy victory over the East Africans and a last over thriller against New Zealand, India made an early exit from the tournament.
Record run chase
The year 1976 was a year that brought immense glory to the Indian team. It was in Port of Spain that the chimerical task of chasing 403 against a much talked about Windies pace attack was achieved.
The West Indies started off by scoring 359 in the first innings of the third Test of the series with Bhagwat Chandrasekhar claiming six West Indian scalps. However, the Indians were bowled out for 228 due to a fiery spell by Michael Holding where he claimed 6 for 65. This gave the West Indians a lead of 131 runs.
Due to a century by Alvin Kallicharran, the West Indies set up a target of 403 for the Indians. The Indian batting in the second innings looked ready for the task right from the beginning. With Gavaskar and Viswanath scoring a century, the winning runs came in the 11th mandatory over of the day with Brijesh Patel hitting the winning runs.
This Test win is one of the greatest examples of a team coming from behind and securing a victory. The fact that it was against the world champions West Indies made the win even sweeter.
Kapil makes his debut - 1978
More than four decades had passed since India made its mark in the international arena but the team was still depleted of a genuine fast bowler and an all rounder. The nation’s prayers were answered in the year 1978 during India’s tour of Pakistan. Kapil Dev, who was voted by Wisden as India’s cricketer of the century made his presence felt in the cricketing fraternity.
The power behind each shot in his 59 at Karachi spelt finesse and precision. It was far from the slogging that one usually associates power hitters with. With consistency as his middle name, Kapil redefined Indian cricket and was largely responsible for the Team’s resurgence.
Cricket World Cup – 1979
India did not do much to enhance its reputation in the 1979 World Cup. Being in the same group as the champions West Indies, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, India lost their first match of the tournament against the Windies by a whopping 9 wickets with Kapil Dev claiming the only wicket to fall of Desmond Haynes.
The match that followed proved to be curtains for India in their World Cup campaign when they ended up with an 8-wicket defeat in the hands of the New Zealand team.
This was further followed by more humiliation for the Indians, as they were unsuccessful in chasing Sri Lanka’s score of 238. Thus, without going beyond 200 in the entire tournament, the Indians faced harsh criticism for their display.
Nearly there – 1979
The Indian tour of England in 1979 brought India within striking distance of chasing the highest target ever set for the final innings. After having achieved this feat at the Port of Spain in 1976, the Indians were optimistic about doing it yet again.
Gavaskar’s innings of 221 with 21 fours nearly got the Indians home. At the end of the mandatory overs, the Indians were 429 for 8, a mere 9 runs short of the target.
