Only in the 160s did we think that a miracle was possible

After trailing one-nil in the three-Test series, we had do something out of the ordinary to save that series. The historic MCG provided the perfect setting, writes Chetan Chauhan.

Published on: Dec 16, 2003, 22:56:00 IST

PTI | By Chetan Chauhan

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After trailing one - nil in the three-Test series, we had do something out of the ordinary to save that series. The historic MCG provided the perfect setting. It was raining in Melbourne a couple days before the start, but it looked pleasant. Then as soon as we were given the first taste of the wicket, it revealed its ugly side.

Lillee and Pascoe made the ball do the tricks on a wicket that brought both, our confidence and belief crashing down. I went for a duck. And minus Gundappa Vishwanath, who draped our lacklustre performance with modesty slamming a memorable hundred, our score would’ve embarassed anyone.

Vishwanath needed runs, as he hadn't been playing well in that series. After the shaky 20s, where he struggled for rhythm, Vishy was soon starting to reveal his real self. Together with Patil, Kirmani and then Yadav, he carved out important partnerships before falling as the ninth man with 114 to his credit.

But soon, the Aussie batsmen started to slaughter us. Bahut pitai ki. A young Allan Border scored a century, captain Greg Chappell made 76 and Dougie Walters, grafted 78 to leave us helpless. The wicket had suddenly turned beautiful and batsman friendly.

We were looking down the barrel and with 182 run deficit, all we could have thought of was a miracle to save the Test. When I padded up and walked with Gavaskar to the wicket, the only thing we thought was how to hang around.

We told each other: "We have to bat for as long as possible with about two-and-a-half days remaining." At stumps we were 108 without loss that say, a commendable effort by both of us and then, the next morning we continued our innings.

It was in the early 160s that we actually thought that we could perform a miracle. But soon Gavaskar fell to a really poor decision. Leg before to Lillee, for 70 that led to the walkout incident. Ball had clearly struck the bat first before hitting the pad. We both walked but after directions from the dressing room I decided to go back to the crease.

Vengsarkar, Vishwanath and Patil continued the good work but then all fell apart. By the end we had given them a modest 143 to chase with a day in hand. That evening when we went into Kapil Dev's room - Kapil hadn't taken the field on day four - we urged him to just be ready anyhow he could. We all went to his room in a group of two or three.

Australia are going in the fifth day at 24 for 3 and with all their batting still to come. You'll have to do something," we all said to him. He obliged and next day he bowled as if there was no tomorrow, making full use of the wicket that was keeping low on the fifth day.

By the time we got Kim Hughes, we knew we’d win. The win was sweeter after Ian Chappell had made an infamous remark: "India love losers' money." — As told to Khurram Habib

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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