da dobrowin： The Botham-Kapil duel reached a stirring climax in the third Test at the Oval
Partab Ramchand05-Sep-2002The major highlight of the 1982 series between India and Englandwas the exciting – even dazzling – rivalry between Ian Botham andKapil Dev. Both all-rounders were then at their peak, and theytreated this series as a personal contest. At the end of threeTests, one could only say that the duel was a dead heat and thatthe two were among the best players in the game.India toured in the first half of the summer, closely following a1-0 victory in the six-match series against the same opponents athome during the winter. Not unexpectedly though, the result wasreversed in England, with the home team winning one match and theother two being drawn. In reality there was very little to choosebetween the teams, and it was only one shocking batting collapsein the Indian first innings at Lord’s that resulted in Englandpulling off a seven-wicket victory.There was much criticism when the team was selected. MohinderAmarnath, who was in form, was not picked, and neither was RogerBinny, who would have revelled in English bowling conditions, ashe proved in 1983 and 1986. It was also felt that Ghulam Parkar,Suru Nayak and Randhir Singh were undeserving of selection.Parkar, an opening batsman from Bombay and an outstandingfielder, failed in the only Test he played, though he didreasonably well in the first-class games. Nayak played two Tests,doing nothing of note, while Randhir Singh did not get a look-in.In fact, the medium-pacer from Bihar had the rather sheepishexperience of going through the whole tour without scoring asingle run. He played three innings and was out for a duck eachtime.The team itself did not win a single match on the tour. Of the 12first-class games, the Indians lost one and drew 11. But it mustbe said that in most of the matches, there was never any chanceof a result thanks to the inclement weather.After England had won both one-day internationals by nine wicketsand 114 runs, the teams got down to the real business of thetour. England, thanks in the main to Derek Randall’s 126, led offwith 433, despite the efforts of Kapil Dev (5 for 125) and MadanLal (3 for 99). Then followed the Indian collapse that – asfuture events proved – cost them the rubber. The tourists slumpedto 41 for five, and only some defiance from Sunil Gavaskar (48)and Kapil Dev (41) saw India reach 128. Following on, India didmuch better. Dilip Vengsarkar got his second successive centuryat Lord’s, hitting boldly to get 157.But even this majestic innings took second billing to Kapil Dev’spyrotechnics. The ace all-rounder slammed 89 off just 55 ballswith 13 fours and three sixes. India ultimately got 369, but theshoddy display in the first innings meant that England had tomake just 65 runs for victory. Kapil was not finished yet. Hetook three wickets by the time England had scored 18, but AllanLamb and David Gower then proceeded to steer them home.Botham had not exactly been idle while Kapil was displaying hisubiquitous skills. His contribution was a more modest 67 and amatch-haul of six wickets, including five for 46 in the firstinnings. But in the second Test at Manchester, he really gotgoing. He celebrated his 50th Test by getting his 10th hundred.He raced to 128 off 169 balls, his first 50 coming off only 46deliveries. England led off with 425.Kapil Dev endured the rare occurrence of conceding 109 runswithout taking a wicket, but he made up with the bat. Entering at173 for six, Kapil did pretty much what he liked with thebowling, coasting to his half-century off just 33 balls. When hewas out for 65 from 55 balls, he had dominated the seventh-wicketpartnership of 96 runs with Sandip Patil, who himself was noslouch.In fact this proved to be the Bombay stroke-player’s day as heset a world record by scoring six boundaries off one over fromBob Willis 4440444, with the third delivery being a no-ball.Patil’s score progressed from 73 to 104 in an amazing nine balls.At the end of the fourth day, Patil was unbeaten with 129 in atotal of 379 for eight, and the final day’s play was washed outby rain.The Botham-Kapil duel reached a stirring climax in the third Testat the Oval. England’s star player seemed to have settled theissue in his favour by hitting the fastest double-hundred in Testhistory. He made it off only 220 balls and was finally out for208 compiled from just 226 balls with 19 fours and four sixes. Inthe process, he also removed Gavaskar from the match. The Indiancaptain was fielding at silly-point, and Botham’s fierce squaredrive fractured his left fibula. Kapil had just one wicket for109 runs as England posted an imposing total of 594. There weregenuine fears that India, without Gavaskar, might cave in.But the Indian teams of the 70s and 80s were made of sternerstuff than their predecessors of the 50s and 60s. Ravi Shastri,opening the innings in a Test for only the second time, scored66. Gundappa Viswanath (56), Yashpal Sharma (38), Patil (62) andKirmani (43) all chipped in, but the knock which made sure thatIndia would avoid the follow-on was, predictably enough, playedby Kapil Dev.Kapil struck 97 off 93 balls with 14 fours and two sixes,dominating the record 130-run stand for the sixth wicket withKirmani. India, even without Gavaskar, made 410 by the fourthevening, and the rest of the match was a formality. Botham pickedup two wickets, while Kapil took one more in the second innings.The personal contest was thus very much a tie. On figures, Bothammight be considered the winner, for in addition to scoring 403runs at an average of 134.33, he also took nine wickets at 35.55apiece, whereas Kapil Dev – named one of Wisden’s cricketers ofthat year – scored 292 runs at an average of 73.00 and took 10wickets at 43.90 apiece. But considering the fact that Kapil cameup against stronger opposition, there is little doubt that therewas nothing to choose between them. Both brought back vividmemories of the greatest hitters in the game. Theirs was clean,scientific hitting, struck through the line and often verystraight, not merely cross-bat slogs.On the tour, Viswanath headed the averages with 561 runs at62.33, while Vengsarkar was close behind with 610 runs at 55.45.Ashok Malhotra (462), Gavaskar (438), Kapil Dev (438), GhulamParkar (433) and Yashpal Sharma (418) all fared reasonably well.The bowling however was another matter. The four principalbowlers – Kapil Dev, Madan Lal, Dilip Doshi and Shastri – wereall expensive, while Randhir Singh and Shivlal Yadav paid outeven more for a meagre share of the wickets. In short, thebatting was a joy but the bowling was alarmingly thin.