1971 rewind: India's first series win in Eng

1971 rewind: India's first series win in Eng

New Delhi: Forty years ago, the Indian cricket team created history under Ajit Wadekar's leadership when they defeated England 1-0 in a three-Test rubber to register its maiden series win in England.
They were without a victory for 39 years when they started their seventh visit in the summer of 1971 - played 19, lost 15, won none.
The odds of India winning a Test match, let alone a series in England, were fairly negative but given their team combination consisting of a formidable spin bowling attack made them a stronger unit than any previous Indian team's that had toured England.
The strength in their spin bowling attack could be gauged by the fact that Erapalli Prasanna, regarded by many as the best off-spinner, was left out of the playing eleven since Srinivas Venkatraghavan; also an off-spinner, was preferred due to his superior batting skills.
The series was marred by rain and a snow storm, and was a party to England's vicious bowling attack led by John Snow and Norman Clifford, that prevented India from winning the first Test where they fell short by 38 runs.
The series is also remembered for the Snow-Gavaskar incident when Gavaskar, while attempting a quick single, barged into Snow, that landed him on the ground in the first Test match. This led to criticism of John Snow from all corners and everyone wanted him expelled from the rest of the series but it never happened.
In the second Test, struggling in their second innings while chasing 420 runs, India were reduced to 65/3 when rain came to their rescue, washing the entire fifth day after lunch leading to the match being drawn.
The teams then went to The Oval in mid-August with the series up for grabs. England scored 355. Then it rained, preventing play on the second day and taking the bounce out of the pitch. In reply India were bowled out for 284, 71 runs behind.
The Indian "Four Musketeers" that included Bishan Singh Bedi, B Chandrasekhar, E Prasanna and S Venkataraghavan were the main reason behind one of the finest hour of Indian cricket. Only Prasanna did not play in the Test.
Chandrasekhar enjoyed his finest hour on the fourth day. He tore into England's batting and finished the afternoon with six for 38 in 18.1 overs. England were bundled out for 101, leaving India needing just 173 to register a historic win.
By the close of the fourth day they were 97 runs away from history with eight wickets in hand. Victory was in sight. However, it took the tourists three nervous hours on the last day to reach their target. India took 101 overs to reach 174 and their happy supporters invaded the pitch in celebration.
The series was one of the stepping stones for the Indian team in their quest to break the tag of minnows and join among the top ranks of cricketing nations.