For the second successive tour of England, India lost all theTest matches in 1967
Partab Ramchand20-Aug-2002For the second successive tour of England, India lost all theTest matches in 1967. Thankfully however, this being the seasonof twin tours, the margin of defeat was 3-0 and not 5-0 as it waseight years before.
A storm of protest over giving five-day Tests toIndia broke through with fury that evening and in the morningnewspapers. Given India’s disastrous showing in England in 1952,1959 and on the current tour, the outburst was not unexpected.Godfrey Evans was so indignant that he even advocated that peoplepay less when India toured! “Cricket fans should not be asked topay the West Indies-Australian tour minimum price. Charge less, Isay, when the weaker sides are touring. And let one of the bigguns share the tour with India or Pakistan in 1971.”
India embarked on the tour with a certain confidence. Under thedynamic leadership of the Nawab of Pataudi (later Mansur AliKhan), the Indians in the sixties had improved considerably.There was greater solidity in the batting and vast improvement inthe fielding with the captain setting the example. The emergenceof the spin quartet, meanwhile, seemed to have made up for theone lacuna in the side – the presence of a decent opening attack.Just before coming to England, the Indians had done well againstthe world champion West Indies side at home, even if they hadlost the series. And one negative factor in the visitors’ favourwas also the fact that England were by no means the top team inthe world. In fact, in four successive summers at home they hadlost to West Indies (twice), Australia and South Africa.And yet when the tour ended, all three Tests were lost – only onewith any degree of honour. In the two other matches, one ended indefeat by an innings and 124 runs in four days and the other by132 runs in three days. The record in first class matches too wasanything but impressive. Out of 15 matches, the tourists won onlytwo, lost four and drew nine.There were a few silver linings and India’s heroic display in thefirst Test at Leeds was the best of them. The Indians had beenhandicapped by wet weather throughout May and came into the Testwoefully short of practice and without a single win. AtHeadingley, the sun shone brightly but midway through the openingday, just as the Indians were at last getting their act together,came two swift blows.Bishan Bedi, one of the leading spin bowlers in the side, andRusi Surti, the team’s No 1 utility man, retired throughinjuries, and were not in a position to bowl again while theywould bat only with the help of a runner. This reduced Pataudi’soptions to three bowlers – Prasanna, Chandrasekhar and SubrotoGuha, playing in his first Test. England relentlessly piled onthe runs with Geoff Boycott (246 not out) having a ball beforeBrian Close declared at 550 for four. At the end of the secondday, India were a pitiful 86 for six in reply.A storm of protest over giving five-day Tests to India brokethrough with fury that evening and in the morning newspapers.Given India’s disastrous showing in England in 1952, 1959 and onthe current tour, the outburst was not unexpected. Godfrey Evanswas so indignant that he even advocated that people pay less whenIndia toured! “Cricket fans should not be asked to pay the WestIndies-Australian tour minimum price. Charge less, I say, whenthe weaker sides are touring. And let one of the big guns sharethe tour with India or Pakistan in 1971.”Ian Wooldridge wrote in the that “if it were aheavyweight fight instead of a featherweight Test match, thereferee would have shown humanity and stopped the contest tospare the Indians full punishment.” The inits headline summed it all up aptly: ‘India 160 runs behindBoycott’.And yet a match that looked to be ending in an innings victoryfor England in three days ended only at 3 pm on the fifth daywith the hosts winning by six wickets. Pataudi led by personalexample, hitting 64 priceless runs and lifting the total to 164.Following on, 386 runs behind, Indian batting touched dizzyheights. First, Farokh Engineer (87) and Ajit Wadekar (91) added168 runs in 153 minutes in a thrilling counter-attack. An out-ofform Chandu Borde chipped in with a valuable 33. And then Pataudiand Hanumant Singh (73) kept England in the field for nearlythree hours while adding 134 runs for the fifth wicket. The tailalso wagged, helping Pataudi to get 148 before he was finally outon the fifth morning.This time the papers were lavish in their praise and went into raptures over the team and over Pataudi inparticular with a brilliant banner headline ‘His MagnificentHighness the Nawab of Headingley and of Pataudi’.India ultimately got 510, their highest total against England.England needing 125 for victory, made heavy weather of their taskagainst Chandrasekhar and Prasanna, virtually the only twobowlers Pataudi had, before the winning run had been struck.The valorous display in the Test whetted the appetite of cricketlovers back home. Unfortunately, the limp effort in the remainingtwo Tests came as a major disappointment. Wadekar got halfcenturies in each of the two games while the spin trio of Bedi,Prasanna and Chandrasekhar did show glimpses of becoming a potentforce. But the failure of Borde, the side’s most experiencedbatsman cost them dearly.In six innings, the vice-captain could put together just 60 runs.In the first-class matches, he did better but that was coldcomfort. Wadekar emerged as the most improved batsman and headedthe aggregates with 835 runs (average 37.72). Pataudi, Engineerand Hanumant Singh lived up to expectations but the Indians werehit badly by an injury midway through the tour to Dilip Sardesai,who with his impeccable technique, was expected to do well inEngland.There was also a constant question mark over the opening batting.Another headache for Pataudi was caused by injuries to hisopening bowlers, and in the third Test, it was wicketkeeper BudhiKunderan who opened with Subramanyam with the skipper cheerfullyconfessing that he did not know what Kunderan bowled! The onusthus fell almost completely on the spinners and Chandrasekhar (57wickets), Bedi (34), Prasanna (45 ) and Venkatraghavan (20)cheerfully bore the burden. But the paucity of a decent openingattack in England exposed the weakness of the Indians andPataudi, for all his personal example and exemplary leadershipqualities, had always one hand tied behind his back and there waslittle he could do better under the circumstances.