Anshuman Gaekwad – A Study In Courage
Gaekwad probably fought his battle with cancer with the same spirit that he faced fierce fast bowlers. And today, wherever he is, he must be looking upon the players with his same inimitable humour.
40 test matches, 1985 runs, 2 centuries and an average of 30! Those are the statistics of Anshuman Dattajirao Gaekwad, who passed away on July 31st 2024. But then, when it comes to players like Anshu Gaekwad, cold numbers will never tell the full story. The highlight of the Anshuman Gaekwad story are not the numbers he piled on, but the courage he displayed in the face of extremely hostile pace bowling, in tough circumstances, difficult pitches and in the era before protective gear arrived.
Let’s start with his test debut itself – it was a difficult time in Indian cricket. After a catastrophic 0-3 defeat in England (1974), Ajit Wadekar was gone from the captaincy, never to play for India again. The selectors landed a surprise by bringing back Mansur Ali Khan ‘Tiger’ Pataudi as captain for the five test home series against West Indies in 1974-75. Pataudi missed the second test of the series prompting the selectors to make S Venkatraghavan the captain – only to drop Venkat for the third test when Pataudi returned. This was the whimsical manner in which Indian cricket was run in those days!
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Not that the West Indies were invincible. They too were in transition – Clive Lloyd was learning the ropes of leading the side. In the team that came to India were two debutants who would go on to become champions – Gordon Greenidge and Vivian Richards. A third player came to India with the experience of a solitary test match – Andy Roberts. Lance Gibbs, a great player for the Windies, was nearing the end of his career. Roy Fredericks and Alvin Kallicharran were close to their prime, adding heft to the batting with Lloyd. Adding to the pace department were Vanburn Holder and Bernard Julien.
India lost the first two tests and went into the third at Eden Gardens, Calcutta 0-2 down, with three tests to go. The pace of Andy Roberts was proving hard to handle and the redoubtable Sunil Gavaskar too was injured, hence unavailable. Hardly had the third test begun that opener Sudhir Naik was out, caught behind off the first ball from Roberts. After that, the wickets continued to fall. With the score at 94, Pataudi deflected a lifting delivery from Roberts on to his chin and then to the stumps. The scorecard reads “MAK Pataudi bowled Roberts – 36”. It makes no mention of the blood on the pitch that the 22-year old debutant Anshuman Gaekwad would have seen when he came into face Roberts.
Here is what GR Vishwanath, who was batting at the other end, writes about that innings in his autobiography: “It couldn’t have been easy for Anshu, on debut, to walk out to the sight of his captain departing in discomfort, and fresh blood in his line of vision on the pitch….to his credit, Anshu fought it out. He showed no outward sign of nerves and made a pleasant 36 while we added 75 crucial runs. It was to be the start of a partnership that is still going strong…”
Gaekwad perhaps proved lucky for the Indians. With Vishwanath making a superb century in the second innings and the spinners weaving their magic, India won at Calcutta. Incredibly, they went onto win the next test at Madras (Now Chennai) too. While Vishy played arguably his finest ever knock (97 not out, against a raging Roberts) in the first innings, it was Gaekwad who top scored in the crucial second innings with 80 – defying Roberts, who took 12 wickets in the match. The final and deciding test at brand-new Wankhede Stadium for the final test was lost, but Gaekwad enhanced his reputation, making 51 and 42. In the batting aggregates for his debut series, Gaekwad appears third on the Indian list, with only Vishy and Engineer ahead of him, though both played all five tests to the debutant’s three. Surprisingly, Gaekwad did not play in the next test series India took part in – against New Zealand on their soil.
Gaekwad’s debut series as well as his non selection in NZ, in many ways, defined his career. Of his 40 tests, as many as 22 came against the mighty West Indies – in an era when that team had the world’s most feared pace attack. He averaged 27 against them and his selection was not merely because of the runs he made but that he stood up to the quicks.
Post the missed series in NZ, India toured the West Indies and predictably, Gaekwad was back, playing three of the four tests. In the third test, India pulled off a historic chase of a 400 plus target and caused Lloyd to discard spin and choose pace as his ultimate weapon. And then it was on to the fourth test at Kingston, Jamaica – a test that acquired a degree of infamy. And it was here that Gaekwad came to play an innings that showcased his grit the most.
