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| Sunday, 7 August 2005 |
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No bowler has different actions for different balls at point of delivery - Sunil Gavaskar by A. C. de Silva India and Sri Lanka have been good neighbours and this good neighbourly ties have spread even on to the cricket field. India supported Sri Lanka's entry as a full member of the International Cricket Conference and the Sri Lankans too have supported the Indians in their cricketing ventures. It was somewhat of a diplomatic gesture to say "thank you" to Sri Lanka who supported the joint India-Pakistan bid for staging the 1987 World Cup, India undertook to make the hurriedly arranged tour to Sri Lanka with Kapil Dev as captain in August - September of 1985. It turned out to be somewhat of a nightmare for India as they lost the Test series 0-1 and drew the one-day series 1-all with one Test abandoned. India were beaten and, like all beaten sides, the Indians passed the blame for their defeat to the umpires and this has been the pattern followed by all beaten sides. But before that in January 1974. India sent a young team to Sri Lanka in order that their players gain maturity before they undertook a tour of England a few months later. Pakistan was already supportive of Sri Lanka and India was playing its role so that Sri Lanka could be sanctioned full membership of the International Cricket Conference. Sri Lanka was fortunate to see two stars in action - Kapil Dev who captained the Indians and that famous batsman Sunil Gavaskar. Both were bracketed as the two Indian cricketers of the century in the year 2000. However, there was somewhat of a problem to sort out - Gavaskar had made it known to the selectors that he did not want to open the innings and wished to go lower down the batting order. He had given the excuse that he was unable to concentrate in the 10-minute change over. There were some who did not agree with Gavaskar and put out the argument that during his cherished 14 year innings he scored 29 of the 30 centuries as an opener. Srikanth and Rajput were entrusted with the job, but failed and as a result Ravi Shastri was pressed into service to open wit Srikanth, but this too failed. Thrills spectators Both Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar have thrilled cricket spectators here just like their exploits abroad. When the Indian team came here in 1984-85, Kapil Dev, playing in his 71st Test against Sri Lanka at the Asgiriya Stadium, had the wicket of Sri Lanka's Roshan Jurangpathy (caught by Viswanath) in the first innings which at that stage brought him on par with Bishen Singh Bedi as the highest wicket-taker for India with 266 wickets. A couple of days later, the wicket of Sri Lanka's wicket-keeper Amal Silva (caught by Viswanath) put Kapil Dev Ahead. Kapil's exploits against Sri Lanka: Batting: 1982-83 in India - Tests 1, innings: 2, runs 61 H.S.: 31, average: 30.50. 1984 - 85: Venue - Sri Lanka, Tests 3, innings 6, runs: 128, H.S.: 78, 50s: 1, catches: 1, Avg: 21.33. Bowling: 1982-83 in India: 284 balls, 5 maidens, 207 runs, 8 wkts (5 wkts in an innings: 1, best: 5 for 110: Avg: 25.87. 1984 - 85 in Sri Lanka: 778 balls, 30 maidens, 372 runs, 11 wickets, best: 3 for 74; Avg: 33.81. The sum total: 1,062 balls bowled, 35 maidens, 579 runs, 5 wickets in an innings: 1, best: 5 for 110 and average: 30.47. Kapil Dev says that what happened between 1982-83 and 1985 was just not funny. "Sunny and I were dragged needlessly into a tug-o-war over the captaincy. Things were so unsettled I was never sure where I stood. May be Sunny felt the same way". The problems of holding a weak bowling side together was deepened by the machinations of Board officials and the play of vested interests. The selectors were the judge and jury and they kept changing their verdict in an extraordinary display of confusion and indecisiveness, said Kapil Dev, and adds: "If I was good enough to be captain for two seasons, where was the need for a change in 1984? If I had damned myself by bad captaincy, then why was I always the alternate candidate?" Though both cricketers have deeds to speak for themselves, they however, have not forgotten Sri Lanka and have always had a 'good word' when the Lankans performed well while playing against them. When Sunil Gavaskar was born on July 10 in 1949, little did the Indian authorities know that India was going to have a cricketer par excellence in the years to come. Recalling all of Gavaskar's feats from his young days will take too much space but it was a foregoing fact that he really came into the top bracket while playing here in Sri Lanka. Gavaskar came to Sri Lanka with the Indian Universities team in late 1969 and was such a success with the bat that he was immediately summoned back home as the Indian Test team was getting ready for the tour of the West Indies. He was such a success here with the Indian Universities team and on 'SOS' was sent for him to join the Indian Test team to the West Indies. Gavaskar transformed that early success here when he went to the West Indies with the Indian Test team as a 21-year-old. He made his debut in the Second Test against West Indies at Port of Spain and was a tremendous success, amassing 774 runs in the Tests. His Test career spanned for 16 years (1971 to 87) and scored 34 centuries. He bowed out of cricket, playing against Pakistan in 1986-87. In his last Test innings at Bangalore against Pakistan in 1987, Gavaskar
gave an incredible display of high-class batsmanship to make 96-just four
runs short of what would have been his 35th Test hundred. |
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