Narendra Hirwani - in and out of Indian team in a flash
By A. C De Silva
CRICKET: Narendra Hirwani - a leg-spinner was 19 years and he had a
'dream debut' at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Madras in the fourth
and final Test against the West Indies. Hirwani had a haul of 16 wickets
for 136 runs which helped India to beat the West Indies by 255 runs in
1987-88 series. It was India's first biggest "runs margin" victory
against the West Indies, the previous being 100 at the same venue in the
1967-68 series.
Hirwani could not have expected better baptism into Test cricket than
this on a tailer-made wicket for his type of bowling. It equalled the
then world record for the most wickets by a bowler in a Test on debut -
that of Australia's R. Massie's 16 for 137 against England at Lord's in
the second Test in 1972.
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Narendra Hirwani of India who had a match-bag of 16 for 136
runs in the first Test he played against West Indies. |
Hirwani has the distinction of becoming only the second ever bowler
in the annals of cricket history to capture 10 or more wickets in a Test
on debut against the West Indies. The other was England's C.S. Marriott,
also a leg-spinner who captured 11 for 96 against the West Indies at The
Oval in the second Test in 1933. Incidentally, that was Marriott's only
appearance in Test cricket.
Hirwani became the 13th bowler in the game's history to accomplish
10-plus wickets on debut. He came into the Test scene with a bang, but
he went out of the scene also very soon.
Fine knock
Apart from the splendid manner in which Hirwani seized this chance of
parading his talent at the difficult and dying art of legspin, the one
vital difference between the sides was that India had a batsman like
Kapil Dev.
The century by Kapil contained some of the finest things for which
compliments can be paid to a modern batsman. There was a freedom of
spirit in the choice and execution of shots which even the best of
technically equipped batsmen do not always command.
Kapil's fine performance in making 109 helped India to make 382 in
the first innings.
Among the West Indians there was only Vivian Richards who had the
determination to dig in and play an innings in the pressure situation.
He is from the old school. He seemed to have seen the ball well and
played according to the situation. The others in his batting lineup
seemed to be too raw to tackle the situation that they were placed in
and they were all out for 184 runs in the first innings and were far
away from matching the Indians.
So, India gained a solid lead of 198 runs on the first innings. Then
batting a second time, India made 217 for 8 and declared with Raman
making 83.
Then Hirwani who troubled the West Indies batsmen with his wily
spinners, was at it again in the second innings and he was responsible
for the downfall of the West Indian team who were all out for 160. Gus
Logie batted well for the Windies in their second to make 67.
This Test will be memorable not only for Kapil Dev's fine century, it
will also be remembered because of the success of the youngsters. There
were three debutants in the match. Two of them performed sensationally,
Hirwani with his Massie-like feat and Raman with his top score of the
Indian second innings. Ajay Sharma, performed creditably with the bat in
both innings without being too flamboyant.
SCOREBOARD
INDIA – 1ST INNINGS
K. Srikanth c Davis b Walsh 23
J. Arun Lal c Logie b Hooper 69
M. Amarnath c Dujan b Walsh 03
W.V. Raman c Dujan b Davis 09
M. Azharuddin c Haynes b Hooper 47
Ajay Sharma lbw b Richards 30
Kapil Dev c Richards b Walsh 109
Ravi Shastri b Davis 23
K. More b Davis 17
Arshad Ayub not out 23
N. Hirwani c Richardson b Davis 01
EXTRAS (b 15, lb 4, nb 9) 28
TOTAL 382
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-30, 2-38, 3-62, 4-153, 5-156
6-269, 7-313, 8-342, 9-369
BOWLING: P.Patterson 15-1-62-0
C. Walsh 27-3-85-3
W. Davis 18.1-0-78-4
C. Butts 24-4-62-0
I.V.A. Richards 8-1-36-1
C. Hooper 12-3-42-2
WEST INDIES 1ST INNINGS
D.L. Haynes c Kapil Dev b Shastri 13
P. Simmons c and b Kapil Dev 08
R. Richardson c Azharuddin b Hirwani 36
I.V.A. Richardson b Hirwani 68
A. Logie c Azharuddin b Hirwani 12
C.Hooper lbw b Hirwani 02
J. Dujan st.More b Hirwani 24
C. Butts c Raman b Hirwani 00
W. Davis lbw b Hirwani 01
C. Walsh c More b Hirwani 08
P. Patterson not out 00
EXTRAS (b 8, lb 2, nb 2) 12
TOTAL 184
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-17, 2-37, 3-98, 4-128, 5-132
6-163, 7-175, 8-175, 9-183
BOWLING: Kapil Dev 7-0-20-1
M. Amarnath 3-0-8-0
Ravi Shastri 13-6-29-1
Arshad Ayub 28-10-47-0
Hirwani 18.3-3-61-8
Ajay Sharma 4-0-9-0
INDIA 2ND INNINGS
K. Srikanth lbw b Dacis 17
A. Arun Lal lbw b Walsh 01
M. Amarnath c Richardson b Walsh 01
M.V. Raman c Dujon b Walsh 83
M. Azharuddin c Davis b Richards 39
Ajay Sharma lbw b Patterson 23
Kapil Dev lbw b Patterson 05
Ravi Shastri not out 20
K. More c Dujon b Walsh 00
Arshad Ayub not out 03
EXTRAS (b-8, lb-7, nb-10) 25
TOTAL (for 8 wkts dec) 217
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-3, 2-36,3-37, 4-124, 5-185
6-185, 7-190, 8-194
BOWLING: P. Patterson 9-2-17-2
C. Walsh 16-5-55-4
W. Davis 6-0-20-1
C. Butts 21-1-62-0
I.V.A. Richards 18-4-28-1
C. Hooper 6-1-20-0
WEST INDIES 2ND INNINGS
D.L. Haynes lbw b Hirwani 06
P.Simmons c Amarnath b Hirwani 14
R.Richardson c Amarnath b Arshad 07
I.V.A. Richards c Kapil Dev b Hirwani 04
A. Logie st.More b Hirwani 67
C.Hooper st.More b Hirwani 08
J.Dujon st.More b Hirwani 02
C.Butts c Ajay Sharma b Hirwani 38
W.Davis st. More b Hirwani 07
C.Walsh st.More b Raman 00
P.Patterson not out 00
EXTRAS (nb 2, b4, lb 1) 07
TOTAL 160
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-22, 2-27, 3-33, 4-41, 5-61, 6-79
7-140, 8-153, 9-160
BOWLING: Kapil Dev 4-3-8-0
M. Amarnath 2-0-7-0
Ravi Shastri 5-0-25-0
Arshad Ayub 14-5-33-1
Hirwani 15.2-3-75-8
W.V. Raman 1-0-7-1 |
