Vengsarkar's prime, Chetan-Maninder's magic, Kapil's finest hour as Test skipper: Reminiscing on India's 1986 tour to England
New Delhi [India], June 18 (ANI): The legendary Indian all-rounder and captain Kapil Dev taught the nation to dream. In an age when Australia, England, and the West Indies dominated, he paved the way for the Indian hegemony in cricket with the 1983 World Cup win. While this is a trophy/accomplishment associated the most with the 'Haryana Hurricane', not a lot is known about his finest hour as a Test captain: delivering India its biggest Test series win in England by 2-0 back in 1986.
Back in 1986, 15 years after Ajit Wadekar led India to their first conquest of England, Kapil's men landed on English shores to face a strong English side under the leadership of Mike Gatting and David Gower. India had a strong batting line-up, powered by an in-form Mohammed Azharuddin, Sunil Gavaskar, and Dilip Vengsarkar. Also, pacer Chetan Sharma and spinner Maninder Singh went on to play a crucial role in the series.
1st Test: India elected to field first in the Lord's Test. Graham Gooch's century (114) was the highlight of England's score of 294, with Chetan Sharma (5/64) producing a brilliant five-wicket haul. An unbeaten 126* by Vengsarkar was the start of his dream run in the UK, taking India to 341 runs and giving them a 47-run lead. Kapil came in clutch during the second innings, producing a spell of 4/52, reducing England to 35/3. The hosts could not recover from it, as Maninder Singh (3/9) took down the lower order to sink England to 180, earning India a 133-run lead. Despite some hiccups, India managed to chase down the target of 134 runs, taking an early 1-0 lead.
Kapil got the 'Player of the Match' for his total of five wickets in the match and a quickfire 23* in 10 balls during the run-chase.
2nd Test: The focus shifted to Leeds as England was dented early on in the series. India elected to bat first, with Vengasarkar producing a brilliant 61 to stand out in India's first innings total of 272 runs. Derek Pringle (3/47) and Graham Dilley (3/54) were top bowlers for England. Later, Roger Binny unleashed a spell of 5/40, just after Madan Lal (3/18) had done top order some heavy damage. England was skittled out for 102 runs, trailing by 170 runs.
In the second innings, while wickets tumbled for India and they were reduced to 102/6, Vengsarkar stood tall, scoring 102* in 216 balls in a marathon effort. He single-handedly took India to 237 runs, swelling their lead to 407 runs. John Lever and Pringle took four wickets each. The chase of 407 runs was always going to be tough as Binny (2/18) and Maninder (4/28) bundled England out for 128 runs, securing a 279-run win.
Vengsarkar got the 'Player of the Match' award for one of the finest centuries by an Indian in England.
3rd Test: At Birmingham, England opted to bowl first. Skipper Gatting's marathon 183* in 294 balls took England to 390, with Chetan getting an expensive four-fer. Half-centuries from Mohinder Amarnath (79) and Azharuddin (64) helped India post the exact same score as well. A magnificent 6/58 in the second innings by Chetan bundled out England for 235 runs on the final day, giving India a hope of a clean sweep. Despite a half-century from Gavaskar (54), India finished at 174/5, drawing the match and taking the trophy home.
A look at India's top performers with the bat: Dilip Vengsarkar (360 runs in three matches and six innings, with two centuries and a fifty), Sunil Gavaskar (175 runs in three matches and six innings, with a fifty and an average of 29.00) and Amarnath (172 runs in two matches, at an average of 43.00, with two fifties in four innings).
With the ball: Chetan Sharma (16 wickets in two matches at an average of 18.75, with best figures of 6/58, two five-wicket hauls), Maninder Singh (12 wickets in three matches at an average of 15.58, best figures of 4/26) and Roger Binny (12 wickets in three matches at an average of 20.91 with best figures of 5/40). (ANI)
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