ENG vs IND, Golden Memories: When Ajit Wadekar's India Scripted History In England
As Virat Kohli's men gear up to take on England in a five-Test away series in England with a battery of fast bowlers putting them on equal footing with the home side, exactly 50 years ago an unfan
As Virat Kohli's men gear up to take on England in a five-Test away series in England with a battery of fast bowlers putting them on equal footing with the home side, exactly 50 years ago an unfancied India, led by Ajit Wadekar, made history by winning the first-ever Test series in England with a spin-heavy attack.
It was leg-spinner Bhagwath Chandrasekhar's 6/38 - along with left-arm spinner Bishan Bedi's 1/1 and S. Venkataraghavan's 2/44 - that helped India shoot England out for 101 in the second innings of the third and final Test and upturn the disadvantage of a 71-run deficit into a gettable 173-run target for India in the fourth innings.
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The first two Tests of the three-match series, played in July-August 1971, had been drawn. India, who were on a high after winning the Test series in the West Indies a few months ago, had matched England blow for blow in the first Test at Lord's, London.
The spin trio had helped dismiss England for 304 in first innings with Bedi (4/70), Chandrasekhar (3/110) and Venkataraghavan (2/44) sharing nine wickets.
Thanks to Ajit Wadekar's 85, 22-year-old Gundappa Viswanath's 68, and Eknath Solkar's 67, India batted for 165.3 overs and took a nine-run lead. The spin trio shared eight wickets to dismiss England for 191 in second innings.
India, chasing 183, finished at 145/8, thanks to a half-century from Sunil Gavaskar (53) and his 66-run partnership with Farokh Engineer (35) for the third wicket.
India were lucky to survive in the second Test at Old Trafford in Manchester as there was no play on the fifth and final day with India staring down the barrel at 65/3 -- facing a 420-run target -- at the end of fourth day.
