Making an astonishing debut, the bespectacled Hirwani finishedwith a match haul of 16 for 136, the best-ever figures by abowler in his first Test
Partab Ramchand29-Oct-2002With the retirement of stalwarts like Clive Lloyd, Larry Gomes,
Andy Roberts, Michael Holding and Joel Garner, the West Indies in
the late 80s were not as formidable as they were earlier in the
decade. But they remained the best side in the world. Some of the
older stars like Viv Richards, Gus Logie, Gordon Greenidge,
Desmond Haynes, Jeff Dujon, Winston Davis and Richie Richardson
were still around, Carl Hooper was a shining new star on the
horizon, and adequate fast-bowling replacements had been
unearthed in Courtney Walsh, Patrick Patterson and Winston
Benjamin.
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Making an astonishing debut, the bespectacled Hirwani finished with a match haul of 16 for 136, the best-ever figures by a bowler in his first Test. Only Australian swing bowler Bob Massie had taken 16 wickets in his first Test, against England at Lord’s in 1972, and interestingly enough, his match haul was 16 for 137. |
So it was a confident West Indian side that visited India for the
tour in 1987-88, despite the debacle in the just-concluded
Reliance World Cup, in which the team quite unexpectedly failed
to qualify for the semifinals. The final score line a 1-1 draw
in the four-match series may not have qualified as a fair
result, for the West Indies did seem to have the edge of the
exchange. But there was no such close result in the eight-match
one-day international series, in which the West Indies routed
India 7-1.It was an astonishing spin trick on a responsive pitch that saw
India square the series in the final Test at Madras. In the first
two Tests, they had been squarely at the receiving end. They had
lost the first Test in New Delhi by five wickets after being shot
out for 75 in the first innings the lowest total by India at
home. They were a trifle fortunate in getting away with a draw in
the second Test at Bombay. Over 10 hours play was lost on the
first three days because of rain, but despite this, at the end of
the Indian second innings, the West Indies had to make 118 for
victory in 11 overs. They however rejected the challenge after
facing only two overs.The third Test, played on a placid Eden Gardens pitch, was always
going to be a high-scoring draw, and so the West Indians arrived
at Chepauk still one-up in the series. Here the authorities
ensured a woefully under-prepared track, and India played three
spinners in stand-in captain Ravi Shastri, Arshad Ayub and 19-
year-old debutant leg-spinner Narendra Hirwani.The West Indian counter to this was to also play three spinners
in Richards, Clyde Butts and Hooper. But whereas they took only
four of the 18 Indian wickets that fell in 89 overs, conceding
250 runs, the Indian trio accounted for 18 of the 20 wickets to
fall in 93.5 overs, conceding 270 runs. In short, India had the
bowlers to exploit the conditions whereas the West Indians did
not. The biggest disappointment was Butts, who sent down 45 overs
and conceded 124 runs without taking a wicket.Making an astonishing debut, the bespectacled Hirwani finished
with a match haul of 16 for 136, the best-ever figures by a
bowler in his first Test. Only Australian swing bowler Bob Massie
had taken 16 wickets in his first Test, against England at Lord’s
in 1972, and interestingly enough, his match haul was 16 for 137.
Extracting maximum turn from the responsive pitch, making the
ball bounce awkwardly, Hirwani was virtually unplayable as he
took eight for 61 and eight for 75 to bring the match to a swift
conclusion on the fourth evening, with India winning by 255 runs.The visitors were livid at the sub-standard quality of the pitch,
and Richards vowed revenge, muttering, “I have got a long memory,
maan” as he looked ahead to the return visit of the Indians to
the Caribbean in 1989. But other than that debacle in adverse
conditions at Madras, the West Indian batting acquitted itself
creditably. Richards won the first Test for his side with a
masterly unbeaten 109 off 102 balls. Greenidge, Logie and Hooper
all made hundreds in the batsman-friendly conditions at Calcutta,
while Richardson and Desmond Haynes had their moments. In the
bowling department, Walsh displayed his undoubted skill in
bagging 26 wickets at just 16.80 apiece, while Patterson and
Davis were admirable in support.For India, Dilip Vengsarkar, then in the midst of a Bradmanesque
run, hit two hundreds in three Tests before a ball from Davis
fractured his left hand. He also became Indian captain in his
96th game, making him the most senior cricketer to be first
appointed as Test captain. Kapil Dev came up with a marvelous
hundred on the dirt track at Chepauk, while Mohammad Azharuddin,
Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Arun Lal chipped in with valuable
contributions. Srikkanth in particular rose to the occasion at
Bombay, where he top-scored in both innings with 71 (off 63 balls
with 11 fours and a six) and 65 (off 78 balls with 10 fours) in
adverse conditions, challenging the fast bowlers with fearless
hooking and driving.The bowling, however, generally made little impression until
the final Test, when Hirwani made the West Indians dance to his
tune. But perhaps he would be the first to admit that he might
not have achieved his magical figures without the help of Kiran
More, who set dual world records by stumping five batsmen in an
innings and six in the match.
