da 888casino： It was obvious that much would depend on how Kallicharran got the bestout of his depleted side
da bet sport： Partab Ramchand20-Oct-2002The West Indian side that toured India in 1978-79 was perhaps theweakest to come to these shores till that date. In the aftermath ofthe Packer crisis, most of the top stars had defected to theAustralian TV tycoon’s World Series Cricket, and the team that came toIndia was largely made up of unknown names. Captain Alvin Kallicharranwas of course a world-class player, and Larry Gomes was fairly wellestablished as a batsman whose wicket had to earned. But little wasknown of the others, and predictably enough, interest in the visitorswas lukewarm.
It was obvious that much would depend on how Kallicharran got the bestout of his depleted side. He certainly led from the front, scoring 538runs and inspiring players like Gomes and Faoud Bacchus to come good.The left-handed Gomes was a model of consistency, hitting 405 runswith four half-centuries, while Bacchus, after notching up scores of96 and 61, touched his peak in the final Test at Kanpur.
Given the fact that India were at full strength, the home team wasexpected to win the series. They did, and though the 1-0 margin in thesix-Test series may give the impression that India struggled forvictory, they were very much the better side, and the West Indies werelucky that they were not beaten by a more comprehensive margin.Incidentally it was India’s first home triumph over the West Indies infive attempts.It was obvious that much would depend on how Kallicharran got the bestout of his depleted side. He certainly led from the front, scoring 538runs and inspiring players like Gomes and Faoud Bacchus to come good.The left-handed Gomes was a model of consistency, hitting 405 runswith four half-centuries, while Bacchus, after notching up scores of96 and 61, touched his peak in the final Test at Kanpur. In scoring250 in 8-1/2 hours, the Guyanese right-hander made the highest scoreat Green Park, the second-highest score in any Test in India, and thesecond highest in IndiaWest Indies matches, next only to RohanKanhai’s 256 in Calcutta in 1958-59.There was little substance in the rest of the batting. The bowling toodepended heavily on the pace duo of Sylvester Clarke and NorbertPhilip. While they were no match for the likes of Andy Roberts,Michael Holding, Joel Garner and Colin Croft – the men they had thethankless task of replacing – they were a pretty hostile pair and hadtheir moments in the series, notably in the fourth Test at Madras on apitch of exaggerated bounce. Clarke and Philip were involved in abouncer war with Kapil Dev and Karsan Ghavri, and with some help fromVanburn Holder, almost won the match for the West Indies before Indiasqueaked home by three wickets for the only decisive result of therubber.But considering their relative inexperience, the generally flat tracksand the strong Indian batting line-up, Clarke (21 wickets in fivematches) and Philip (19 in six) could look back with somesatisfaction. The series took place just after India’s historic tourof Pakistan, and with India losing that series, Sunil Gavaskarreplaced Bishan Singh Bedi as captain. The responsibilities certainlydid not affect his batting, for Gavaskar took a heavy toll of theCaribbean attack. For the second time in his Test career, he toppedthe 700-run-mark for a series. In scoring 732 runs with four hundreds,including a double century, Gavaskar confirmed his stature as one ofthe world’s leading players. En route, he hit a century in eachinnings for a third time, the only batsman to achieve this feat, andbecame the first Indian to reach 4,000 runs in Tests.The Indian batting never had it so good. Besides Gavaskar, GundappaViswanath (2), Dilip Vengsarkar (2), Anshuman Gaekwad, MohinderAmarnath and Kapil Dev got hundreds. As many as 11 centuries werenotched up by Indian batsmen, and in two successive Tests in New Delhiand Kanpur, three Indians got hundreds in the same innings. At theFeroze Shah Kotla, India surpassed a 18-year-old record by compilingtheir highest-ever total in Test cricket 566 for eight declared. Butthis record lasted for precisely one match. In the next game at theGreen Park, India raised this to 644 for seven declared.The bowling was in the shadow of these stupendous batting feats, butKapil Dev, Ghavri and Srinivas Venkataraghavan came up with some fineperformances. Kapil Dev took 17 wickets and Ghavri 27, and for once,Indian pace bowling was the dominant destroyer. The tour of Pakistanhad seen the break-up of the spin quartet, and this series hastenedthe end. Both Bedi and Bhagwat Chandrasekhar were dropped, and even ifthey were brought back, it was obvious that the main thrust of theirattack was over.It was left to Venkataraghavan to carry the spin burden virtually onhis own, and he did this admirably, taking 20 wickets in the sixTests, playing a leading role in the lone victory at Madras and almostbowling India to victory at Calcutta. The West Indies had only onewicket left when bad light halted play, and they were again lucky toescape defeat at New Delhi when rain halted proceedings with India inan advantageous position.
