New Zealand register their first series win against India
Partab Ramchand - 16 December 2002
When the Indian team landed in New Zealand in February 1981 for
the start of their tour, it was with their heads held high. They
had come straight from Australia after a miraculous victory in
the third and final Test at Melbourne. Completely against
expectations they had defeated a formidable Australian side by
59 runs to be the first Indian side not to lose a series `Down
Under'.
The problem for the Indians was that both the batting and bowling
lacked consistency. The fact that no Indian batsman got a hundred
whereas in each of the three Tests a front-ranking New Zealand
batsman skipper Geoff Howarth, John Reid and John Wright - got
a century made for the clinching difference in the two sides.
|
But by 1981, New Zealand themselves were a pretty strong team
with a record second to none. They were particularly powerful at
home and only the season before had won a three-Test series
against the West Indies, the No 1 cricketing nation. It was
obvious then that even a confident Indian team had a job on their
hands and so it proved.
New Zealand won the first Test at Wellington by 62 runs and the
remaining two games at Christchurch and Auckland were drawn
giving the hosts the rubber for the first time in seven attempts
against India.
The problem for the Indians was that both the batting and bowling
lacked consistency. The fact that no Indian batsman got a hundred
whereas in each of the three Tests a front-ranking New Zealand
batsman skipper Geoff Howarth, John Reid and John Wright - got
a century made for the clinching difference in the two sides.
The Indians' best was 78 by Chetan Chauhan in the second Test and
Syed Kirmani in the third Test. The Kiwi seam quartet of Richard
Hadlee, Lance Cairns, Martin Snedden and Gary Troup never allowed
the batsmen to settle and the fact that out of the only two
three-figure partnerships for India in the series, one was for
the ninth wicket tells it own tale.
Symbolizing the Indian failure to get going was Gundappa
Viswanath who aggregated only 64 runs from five innings while
skipper Sunil Gavaskar was only a little better, averaging 25.20
from the same number of innings.
The bowling for a start was hampered by injuries. For the first
Test, Dilip Doshi, Shivlal Yadav and Karsan Ghavri were on the
injured list. Yadav missed the second Test too while Ghavri after
playing in the second Test which incidentally was his 39th and
last game for India - was unavailable for the third Test. Doshi
was back for the second and third Tests. But the injuries to the
two main spinners resulted in the team management sending for
Ravi Shastri.
The tall left-arm spinner from Bombay was then only 18 but had
already exhibited his talent while leading the Indian under-19
side. Playing in a Ranji Trophy game at Kanpur when he received
the summons to join the Indian team, Shastri flew halfway across
the world and landed in Wellington on the eve of the first Test.
With there being no specialist spinner, his inclusion in the
playing eleven was a foregone conclusion.
Displaying the temperament of a veteran in addition to his
youthful talent Shastri straightaway settled down as though he
was playing another collegiate game. His first over was a maiden.
Then a sharp return catch got rid off Jeremy Coney. After taking
three for 54, Shastri went one better in the second innings. He
dismissed Cairns, Snedden and Troup in four balls to end with
figures of 3-0-9-3 as New Zealand were shot out for 100.
It is interesting to note, however, that in his first Test, he
went in at No 10. By the end of the series he was the leading
wicket-taker with 15 wickets at 18.46 apiece and in the third
Test he batted at No 7.
But the discovery of Shastri as a long-term prospect was about
the only crumb of comfort for the Indians. New caps were also
given to other players like Yograj Singh, Kirti Azad and TE
Srinivasan who failed to make the most of the opportunities. And
compounding the problem was the comparative failure of the
seniors.
The tour in fact marked the end of the road for Chauhan and his
114-run partnership with Gavaskar at Christchurch was their tenth
and last three-figure partnership in Test cricket. Kapil Dev
lived up to his reputation by taking seven wickets at Wellington
but in the remaining two Tests took just one wicket in 52 overs.
Like many others in the team, he seemed tired and jaded at the
end of a long tour.
There was never any chance of a result in the rain-affected
second Test at Christchurch but the Indians did make a last-ditch
attempt to win the Auckland Test. In arrears by 128 runs, they
posted a second innings total of 284 which left New Zealand four
hours to get 157 on a well-worn pitch and fading light. They were
95 for five in 62 overs when bad light halted play.
A few interesting facts highlighted the series. Chauhan became
the first batsman to amass 2000 runs in Test without scoring a
century. In the second Test, Kirmani retired to have seven
stitches on his jaw after attempting to hook a bouncer from
Hadlee. Yashpal Sharma kept wickets but when he too was injured,
substitute Bharath Reddy, a regular wicket keeper, did duty
behind the stumps.
Playing his 34th Test at Christchurch, Hadlee became the first
New Zealander to take 150 wickets in Tests. Wright who endured
for 460 minutes and faced 434 balls in compiling 110 at Auckland
completed his first hundred in Tests with a six. In the same
Test, Doshi bowled 337 balls before taking his first wicket of
the match.
© CricInfo
Teams
|
India,
New Zealand.
|
Players/Umpires
|
Geoff Howarth,
John Wright,
Chetan Chauhan,
Sir Richard Hadlee,
Syed Kirmani,
Lance Cairns,
Martin Snedden,
Gary Troup,
Gundappa Viswanath,
Sunny Gavaskar,
Dilip Doshi,
Shivlal Yadav,
Karson Ghavri,
Ravi Shastri,
Jeremy Coney,
Yograj Singh,
Tirumalai Srinivasan,
Kapil Dev.
|
Tours
|
India in New Zealand
|
Internal Links
|
The 1980-81 India-New Zealand series.
|