Riots and Ruin for Pataudi
Roshan Paul
The Australian tour of 1969-70 had several consequences. Firstly, it was the last time the Aussies would win a series in India. Secondly, with two riots in Bombay and Calcutta, following the riots in Calcutta and Kanpur against the Kiwis earlier, it would forever give Indian cricket fans a boisterous and unpleasant image.
The Australians were again dominant in world cricket, having just won the Ashes and beaten West Indies at home. The team that arrived in India had Lawry (as captain now), McKenzie, Connolly and Redpath from the previous visit and boasted some new stars such as Ian Chappell, Doug Walters and Keith Stackpole. It was a formidable line-up.
Bowlers dominated the series and the 300 mark was only crossed 5 times in as many Tests. No team ever reached 400. But, despite several exciting individual performances and the mesmerizing bowling of the spinners in tandem, the Australians were again clearly superior.
The first Test in Bombay saw Bombay join the list of Indian cities that couldn't control its riotous fans. A near-perfect all-round team effort from Lawry's men saw them win in style.
India 1st innings: 271
Tiger Pataudi 95, A.V. Mankad 74
McKenzie 5/69, Gleeson 3/52
Australia 1st innings: 345
K. Stackpole 103, I. Redpath 77, D. Walters 48
Prasanna 5/21, Bedi 3/74, Venkatraghavan 2/ 67
India 2nd innings: 137
A. Wadekar 46
Gleeson 4/56, Connolly 3/20
Australia 2nd innings: 67/2
Surti 2/9
Australia won by 8 wickets
The second Test at Kanpur proved to be an uneventful draw. The Australians, chasing 282 to win, ran out of time to finish at 95/0. However, what will be remembered from this Test is the debut of one of the greatest batsmen India has produced. Gundappa Viswanath scored a magnificent 137, which actually disappointed a lot of people because of the jinx that had dogged Indian batsmen. Until then, no Indian batsmen that scored a century on debut ever scored another one; which was why Viswanath's performance led to mixed feelings. Happily for India, Viswanath went on to score 13 more Test centuries and delighted his fans with wristy strokeplay.
India 1st innings: 320
F. Engineer 77, A. V. Mankad 64
Connolly 4/91, Mallett 3/58
Australia 1st innings: 348
A. Sheahan 114, I. Redpath 70, D. Walters 53
Venkatraghavan 3/76
India 2nd innings: 312
G. Viswanath 137, A. V. Mankad 68
McKenzie 3/68
Australia 2nd innings: 95/0
W. Lawry 56 n.o.
Match Drawn
Perhaps, inspired by the promising debut of Vishwanath, the Indian team pulled itself together and came roaring back into the series with an emphatic win in the third Test at Delhi. Mankad, in the first innings, and Wadekar, in the second, shone with the bat but both failed to reach the century mark. The real heroes however were the spin duo of Bishan Bedi and Erapalli Prasanna, who between them took 18 of the 20 Australian wickets to fall.
As for Australia, they too had a number of great performances. Ian Chappell scored a brilliant century in the first innings to give his team a lead of 73; and captain Bill Lawry carried his bat amidst the carnage wrought by the spinners in the second innings. Off-spinner Ashely Mallett finally began to come into his own and would be a big threat in the subsequent Tests.
Australia 1st innings: 296
I. Chappell 138, K. Stackpole 61
Bedi 4/71, Prasanna 4/111
India 1st innings: 223
A. V. Mankad 97
Mallett 6/64
Australia 2nd innings: 107
W. Lawry 49 n.o.
Bedi 5/37, Prasanna 5/42
India 2nd innings: 181/3
A. Wadekar 91 n.o., G. Viswanath 44 n.o.
Mallett 2/60
India won by 7 wickets
An authoritative Australian victory in the fourth Test at Calcutta was overshadowed by a violent riot that caused the deaths of six people and put more than a hundred others in hospital. Like the rest of the series, the biggest difference between the teams was the strength of Australia's batting.
India 1st innings: 212
G. Viswanath 54, E. Solkar 42
McKenzie 6/67, Mallett 3/55
Australia 1st innings: 335
I. Chappell 99, D. Walters 56
Bedi 7/98
India 2nd innings: 161
A. Wadekar 62
Connolly 4/31, Freeman 4/54
Australia 2nd innings: 42/0
Australia won by 10 wickets
India had a great chance to sqaure the series in the fifth Test at Madras, when Australia were in deep trouble at 24/6 in the second innings. However, Ian Redpath was given two lives, which cost India the match as he went on to shepherd the tail to a competitive score while he himself made 63. India needed 249 to win and when Wadekar and Viswanath were in the midst of a 102 run partnership, visions of a repeat of the Delhi Test began to occur.
Unlike in Delhi, however, this was too good to be true. They were both dismissed within a few runs of each other and the rest of the team collapsed to Mallett and McKenzie; and India fell short by 77 runs.
Australia 1st innings: 258
D. Walters 102
Venkatraghavan 4/71, Prasanna 4/100
India 1st innings: 163
Tiger Pataudi 59
Mallett 5/91
Australia 2nd innings: 153
I. Redpath 63
Prasanna 6/74
India 2nd innings: 171
G. Viswanath 59, A. Wadekar 55
Mallett 5/53, McKenzie 3/45
Australia won by 77 runs
Thus, India lost the series 3-1 and Pataudi never captained or played for India again. Yet, although the riots in Bombay and Calcutta would be a hangover that lasted for years, India did have some significant gains in the series. The bowling of the three spinners in tandem (Bedi, Prasanna and Venkatraghavan took 59 wickets between them) and the way in which no Australian batsman really dominated them held promise, as did the batting of Viswanath (334 runs 47.7 in his first series), Mankad and Wadekar.
Like the 1959 tour by Australia, the 1969 visit threw up some promising players for the next decade. However, the 1960s were disappointing but the 1970s saw the turnaround that all the cricket fans in India had been praying for.
The first Aussie tour - 1956 |
1959 |
1964
Photographs: Allsport