Dilip Doshi arrived late but kept India’s spin legacy alive, made legendary quartet proud
And then there was Dilip Doshi, a wonderful practitioner of left-arm spin who was forced to operate in the shadow of Bedi, until being rewarded for his patience
The 1960s and the 1970s weren’t a great time to be a spinner in India, aspiring to play for the country, for no fault of theirs. A venerable, supremely skilled and uncompromisingly aggressive quartet of contrasting styles and crafts ruled the roost. The classical off-spinner EAS Prasanna and his left-handed mirror image, Bishan Singh Bedi. The professorial S Venkataraghavan. The maverick game-changer, leg-spinner supreme BS Chandrasekhar. Each a master, each a humongous threat in his own right but also feeding off one another, complementing rather than competing with each other.
A plethora of exceptional talent bided its time, often without success – Rajinder Goel (750 first-class wickets). Padmakar Shivalkar (589). Rajinder Hans (340). These are names that roll off the tongue. And then there was Dilip Doshi, that wonderful practitioner of left-arm spin who was forced to operate in the giant shadow of Bedi, until finally being rewarded for his patience and perseverance with a Test debut three months short of his 32nd birthday.
In a classic tribute to that oft-abused cliché ‘making up for lost time’, Doshi made an instant impact, taking six for 103 from 43 tireless overs in his first bowl in Test cricket, against Australia in Chennai in September 1979. He backed it up with two for 64 in the second innings in a drawn encounter, a foretaste of what was to come for the next four years.
Despite making his first appearance so late in his cricketing life, Doshi finished with 114 Test wickets. The economy was exceptional, 2.25, if not so much the strike-rate – he took a wicket every 13 and a half overs. He was tireless and accurate, always giving it his all with the ball even if he wasn’t the most athletic in the field or the greatest No. 11.
As a pre-teen watching that Australia Test in Chennai, one couldn’t comprehend Doshi’s mastery. You kept wondering why someone bowling so slowly was making life so difficult for Allan Border and Kim Hughes and Graham Yallop – just names from a personal point of view at the time but hey, you did have a bat in hand, didn’t you? Border made a big hundred and skipper Hughes weighed in with 100 but they never got on top of Doshi. Or the vastly more experienced Venkataraghavan. Why couldn’t you just whack the ball? After all, it was coming at you so slowly, wasn’t it?
It took a while, with pithy inputs from the old man, to understand the nuances of spin bowling. One was educated about ‘having the ball on a string’, on making it ‘hang in the air’ and getting it to ‘dip’ late and wickedly. Over time, appreciation grew for spinners in general and Doshi in particular. With his impeccable dressing, sleeves buttoned at the wrist, not a hair out of place and square glasses that suggested that he would be equally at home in a classroom, sharing his knowledge with wide-eyed teenagers, Doshi compelled attention. And that was even before he marked his run-up and glided to the crease, perfectly side-on at delivery (all gleaned with the advantage of time) and refusing to give the batter an inch.
Doshi’s competitiveness and love for cricket wasn’t overt or in-your-face, though he hated getting hit and didn’t make any effort to hide that. In Melbourne in February 1981, with Australia needing only 143 to win the final Test and clinch the three-match series 2-0, few gave India a chance with off-spinner Shivlal Yadav absent hurt, and both Kapil Dev and Doshi (broken toe) nursing injuries. But after Karsan Ghavri packed off John Dyson and skipper Greg Chappell, bowled behind his pads first ball, the two wounder warriors stepped up brilliantly.
Kapil walked away with most of the plaudits, understandably, with five for 28, but Doshi didn’t pale in comparison. He kept wheeling away, 22 overs yielding two for 33 – opener Graeme Wood and Hughes were his victims. Astonishingly, against all odds, Australia were shot out for 83. The commanding 59-run win meant under Sunil Gavaskar, India left Australia with the series squared for the first time. Doshi perhaps felt he didn’t quite get the credit he deserved for going above and beyond the call of duty.
Doshi was a huge hit in county cricket, where he played for Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire. One of his lasting heroes was Sir Garfield Sobers, who also played for Nottinghamshire and who could do just about anything on the cricket field, including bowling excellent left-arm spin. Doshi wasn’t as flamboyant as arguably the greatest all-rounder to have played the sport, but he was comfortable in his own skin, providing great entertainment and keeping India’s rich spin legacy flourishing once the masterful quartet faded away quietly.
