How does Indian cricket fare in the 63-year sweep since Independence? Rather admirably I think. To highlight only the low points, which many (including sadly former players) are wont to do is being misanthropic. There are obviously several things that could have been different or better, but by and large the history of Indian cricket has panned out quite favourably.
Independent India’s first international assignment was, of course, an unmitigated disaster where the scorebook is concerned, but not quite so when seen in perspective of what all had transpired only a few months earlier.
Barely a few weeks after Partition, Lala Amarnath’s team sailed to Australia to play a 5-Test series against Sir Don Bradman’s powerful Australia team (subsequently termed The Invincibles after the Ashes triumph in 1948) and it would be fair to say that the division of the country, not cricket, could have been uppermost in their minds.
Obviously such distraction alone was not the reason for the defeat. Australia were just too good. But India were severely handicapped too. Key players like A H Kardar, Amir Elahi and Fazal Mahmood had opted to stay with Pakistan; stalwarts like Vijay Merchant, Mushtaq Ali and Rusi Modi could not make the tour for one reason or the other. It was a beleaguered side, yet the players acquitted themselves superbly in spells.
Writing in Farewell To Cricket, Bradman acknowledges that “…had their (India’s) full strength been available, it might have been a different story. If Australia or England should lose four or five of their best players it would seriously prejudice their efficiency. How much more so with India whose resources were much thinner’’? Bradman then goes on to talk glowingly of Amarnath, Dattu Phadkar, Vinoo Mankad and above all Vijay Hazare who made two centuries in the same Test at Adelaide.
I am not going to do a run-down of the various achievements and setbacks in the period since. Suffice to say that there have been enough of both. (The match-fixing scam which broke in circa 2000 had its epicenter in India, it must be remembered). Yet, it would be impertinent and shallow journalism to not mention a few achievements that have left a lasting impact on the game. For instance, victories in the 1983 World Cup and the 2007 T20 World Championship, not only came against all odds, but had a cathartic effect on the sport. Post-1983, India became the hub of cricket; post-2007, and especially after the IPL came into existence, its El Dorado.
There are several memorable chapters in India’s Test history which could be penned in letters of gold too: the twin victories over West Indies and England in 1971, the 406-run chase against Clive Lloyd’s mighty side in 1976, the incredible turnaround win over Australia at Kolkata in 2001, the absorbing drawn rubber against Australia in 2004, the superb 2-1 triumph over Pakistan in Pakistan in 2004, the 2-0 humbling of Australia in 2008… to recall just a few.
The list of brilliant players is long and impressive too. In the 1950s, considered the leanest period, Vinoo Mankad was arguably the best all-rounder in the game. Subhash Gupte is still touted as the best leg-spinner of all-time — Warne and Kumble notwithstanding — if Sir Garfield Sobers’ opinion is merited. Of course India’s prowess in spin reached its zenith in the late 1960s and 1970s when Prasanna, Bedi, Chandra and Venkataraghavan spent most of their time in white flannels.
The next generation belonged to Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, who finished as the world’s highest run-getter-cum-century maker and the highest wicket-taker respectively. In their wake bloomed outstanding talent in the late 80 and 90s: Tendulkar now holds almost all batting records — and by a mile; Dravid has the most catches to go along with 11,000-plus runs; Kumble finished with 600-plus wickets; Sehwag has two triple hundreds and 19 others beside despite scoring at arguably the fastest pace ever for a frontline batsman; Dhoni could become the most successful captain of all time…
Add to these Merchant, Hazare, Lala, Vijay Manjrekar, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Salim Durrani, Dilip Sardesai, Ajit Wadekar, Vishwanath, Farokh Engineer, Vengsarkar, Mohinder Amarnath, Mohammed Azharuddin, Ganguly, Laxman, Srinath, Harbhajan, Zaheer, Gambhir and you still don’t exhaust the list, but get a fair idea of outstanding cricketers to have represented the country.
Quite a few would rate in the top 100 cricketers of all time, a couple of them perhaps in the top 10.
From a 0-5 drubbing in the first year of Independence to world Test No.1 and ODI No.2 ranking in the 63rd, Indian cricket has been on a roller-coaster ride. Some argue that this reflects very tardy progress; I would argue otherwise keeping in mind the complexities and tugs and pulls a young nation had to undergo. But nobody argues that it has been a truly fascinating journey so far, rich in tapestry and talent.
But perhaps more importantly, cricket has held the nation together like nothing else.
While the legacy is evident in record books, in the implicit understanding of the aforementioned attribute is the real triumph of past players — and therefore the responsibility for current and future generations. They have a lot to play for.