England and the Chandrasekhar limit
Partab Ramchand - 07 December 2001

He made his debut against England at Bombay's Brabourne stadium in January 1964 as a slightly built 18-year-old. Over the years, he built a reputation as a bowler who was particularly effective against England, and when he took six for 38 at the Oval in 1971 to shape India's historic victory, Bhagwat Subramaniam Chandrasekhar gained a psychological edge over the batsmen that he was to retain throughout the 1972-73 series at home.

The magician from Bangalore had only to mark his run-up for nervous signs to emerge in the England camp in the dressing room. And out on the field, the two batsmen who had to face the music, immediately took fresh guard, had a nervous look at the field and became more anxious in their mannerisms.

The magician from Bangalore had only to mark out his run-up for signs of nervousness to emerge in the England dressing rooms. Out on the field, the two batsmen who had to face the music immediately took fresh guard, had a nervous look at the field, and became more anxious in their mannerisms. For them, the other bowlers were just the quarterly- and half-yearly tests; Chandra's bowling was the final examination. If they could negotiate his mixture of leg-spinners, top-spinners and googlies successfully, then they could look back on their innings with a sense of pride and satisfaction.

But this was easier said than done, for Chandra was almost unplayable for most of the series. The destroyer went into action early. In the first innings of the opening Test at New Delhi, he took eight for 79, which was to remain his best innings analysis in his 58-match career. He took three of the first five wickets to fall and then all the remaining wickets to restrict England's lead to 27. However, he could not recapture the magic in the second innings, finishing with just one for 70 as England won by six wickets.

With nine wickets in the game, Chandra approached the second Test at Calcutta with confidence. He returned figures of five for 65 and four for 42, a second successive match-haul of nine wickets that, this time around, played a major role in India winning by 28 runs. By now the Englishmen were thoroughly confused by his bag of tricks, unable to spot the leg-spinner from the top-spinner or the top-spinner from the googly. Chandra's deliveries just seemed to skid off the pitch at a terrific pace, and many of the wickets were either bowled or lbw. A few others were caught at close-in positions following hurried, uncertain jabs. In the third Test at Madras, Chandra took six for 90 in the first innings to take his tally of wickets to 99. He got his 100th wicket in his 22nd Test in the second innings when he had Dennis Amiss caught by Farokh Engineer. At the end of the Madras Test, he had taken 25 wickets in a series that India now led 2-1.

With two more matches to be played, Vinoo Mankad's long-standing record of 34 wickets came into focus. In the fourth Test at Kanpur, England had only one innings, and Chandra took four for 86 to increase the tally to 29. Now he needed six more wickets in the final Test at Bombay to surpass Mankad's tally. "Could he do it?" was the question on everyone's lips.

England scored 480 over the better part of two days, and Chandra took five for 135 to bring him level with Mankad. Ajit Wadekar's declaration in the second innings, which set England a target of 213 runs in 90 minutes, gave Chandra the opportunity he needed. He bowled Alan Knott for his only wicket of the innings and, till today, his tally of 35 wickets stands as the Indian record ­ a fitting tribute to a great bowler.

© CricInfo

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