Chasing the Ultimate Glory - India in World Cups, 1975-2003

[King]

In this series of ?Cricket World Cups ? A glance at India?s performance?, Shailesh revisits India?s performance in each of the word cup since its inception. This is the first in the series that takes a look at the 1st World Cup held in England, 1975 and India?s performance in particular. Please leave your comments and don?t forget to vote for the article in the home page. 1st World Cup. England, 1975. ?A whole new world? Prologue The first ever World Cup brought a new experience to the cricket world in many ways. The ?limited overs? format itself was new with only 18 such matches being played before start of this tournament. This was also the first international cricket event in which 8 teams were participating. The showcase event involved 15 matches, each with a limit of 60 overs per innings. The teams were divided in 2 groups with top 2 teams qualifying for the semis. The World Cup also had a sponsor in Prudential and hence it was labeled as the Prudential World Cup. For India it was a case of stepping into a whole new world as they had only played two ODIs before this event. Going by the performances and inexperience of the side, expectations were not too high, though the fans and players were looking forward to this unique event with some interest. The Team The experienced S. Venkataraghavan captained India in this tournament. The team was a blend of experience and youth with senior players like Venkat, Abid Ali, Engineer and Bedi teaming up with the younger lot of Brijesh Patel, Madan Lal, Amarnath and Gavaskar. The Moments If this event was the promotion of a new form of cricket, the first match between England and India at Lords came as a public relations nightmare. After winning the toss and batting first, England scored 334 for 4 in their 60 overs. While this came as no real surprise considering difference between the two teams, what followed certainly did. Defying any conceivable logic, India replied, or rather played out their share of overs to reach a paltry 132 for 3. Gavaskar remained not out on 36 off 174 balls after opening the innings, a knock he must have wished never happened. The team, especially Gavaskar came under fire from media and fans with reports of Indian fans running on the ground asking him to move on and another spectator throwing his lunch at Gavaskar?s feet. 2nd game against the minnows East Africa provided a much needed relief. Madan Lal with 3/15 and Abid Ali with 2/22 helped restrict East Africa to 120. Gavaskar and Engineer chased this target easily as India won the match easily by 10 wickets. India?s last match against New Zealand at Manchester saw them putting up a much worthy performance though they still ended up losing the game by 4 wickets. Highlight of the game for India was the superb all-round performance by Abid Ali who scored 70 of 98 balls and took 2/35 from his 12 overs. With just one win in 3 games, India made an early exit from the World Cup. The showing in last game against New Zealand and some individual performances gave some hopes of improvement in the future. Epilogue England, Australia, New Zealand and West Indies progressed into the semi finals. Australia and West Indies played the final at Lords and the favorites West Indies won the first ever World Cup after beating Australia by 17 runs in a close match. For India this tournament at best was a learning experience. For the seniors it was something they had never experienced in their careers before. For the younger lot this was a welcome exposure to limited overs cricket and the unique challenges that came with it. But most likely, few from either group would have envisioned the extent of popularity this new format was going to achieve in coming years. "

[King]

Re: Chasing the Ultimate Glory - India in World Cups, 1975-2003 Excellent write up Shailesh, you have done fair bit of home work on this one. I think this is also the world cup where Bedi bowled one of the most economical spells giving away only 8 runs off his 12 overs I think. I have this world cup finals video and there was plenty of drama in this game. Australia needed about 10-20 runs and Lillee and Thommo were batting. Lillee hit one in the air towards mid wicket and the fielder caught it, the crowd badge in but the batters kept running :hic: It was a no ball that one and Lillee kept pushing Thommo to keep running and by the time the normalcy was restored Lillee and Thommo had run about 5-6 runs. Of course only one or two were taken into account in the end. Amidst all this drama West Indies ended beating Australia in a close finals. This was also one of the rare finals that produced a good game and the game ran close till the end.

[CC1981]

Re: Chasing the Ultimate Glory - India in World Cups, 1975-2003 Excellent article Shailesh but i must point out that in 1975, Australia were the favourites, not the west Indies. They'd just demolished West Indies 5-1 in Australia before the world cup and with Lillee, Thommo, Chappel brothers in the fold, OZ were the favourites to win the cup. Viv Richards was still the new kid on the block and the WI were short of depth in their batting as well as bowling. They'd even recalled an old and aged Rohan Kanhai few years after his retirement and he did marvellously, keeping company of Lloyd during his violent century in the finals by scoring an invaluable 50.

[Lurker]

Re: Chasing the Ultimate Glory - India in World Cups, 1975-2003 Great read Shailesh. Was wonderful to go back in time. Shall look forward to next editions. :wtg:

I think this is also the world cup where Bedi bowled one of the most economical spells giving away only 8 runs off his 12 overs I think. I have this world cup finals video and there was plenty of drama in this game. Australia needed about 10-20 runs and Lillee and Thommo were batting. Lillee hit one in the air towards mid wicket and the fielder caught it, the crowd badge in but the batters kept running :hic: It was a no ball that one and Lillee kept pushing Thommo to keep running and by the time the normalcy was restored Lillee and Thommo had run about 5-6 runs. Of course only one or two were taken into account in the end. Amidst all this drama West Indies ended beating Australia in a close finals.

Funny that when I read the opening post the above two points to my mind as well. Bedi's economy and Thommo-Lillee's pair against Windies. Spooky or what? By the way Lillee-Thommo's incident shows the cricket Aussies play. One can accuse them of being complete morons but they never leave any stones unturned, do they? xxx

[King]

Re: Chasing the Ultimate Glory - India in World Cups, 1975-2003 In fact some would even term that running as cheating but I would say "presense of mind". Win at all costs is Aussies mantra and at times they push it a bit too far. I will upload that video for the rest to watch surely. I remember this one incident with S. Venkataraghavan while he was in NZ as a visiting umpire. He's man of short tempers and can annoy a lot of people by his attitude. There was this elderly man that asked him "You played alongside Gavaskar right?" and S. Venkataraghavan answered back quite harshly "What do you mean by that? Gavaskar played under me". :hic:

[Lurker]

Re: Chasing the Ultimate Glory - India in World Cups, 1975-2003

In fact some would even term that running as cheating but I would say "presense of mind". Win at all costs is Aussies mantra and at times they push it a bit too far. I will upload that video for the rest to watch surely.

Please do load the video when you can. Lest it be forgotten lets also remember how Lillee tried to use an Aluminium bat during a test match. And also mentioned "Good day Queen" when introduced to her. Must have been some character I tell you.

I remember this one incident with S. Venkataraghavan while he was in NZ as a visiting umpire. He's man of short tempers and can annoy a lot of people by his attitude. There was this elderly man that asked him "You played alongside Gavaskar right?" and S. Venkataraghavan answered back quite harshly "What do you mean by that? Gavaskar played under me". :hic:

I must say I am surprised to hear Venkat as a man with short temper. SOmehow he always came across as man with infinite patience.

[King]

Re: Chasing the Ultimate Glory - India in World Cups, 1975-2003

Lest it be forgotten lets also remember how Lillee tried to use an Aluminium bat during a test match. And also mentioned "Good day Queen" when introduced to her. Must have been some character I tell you.

That one was truly hilirious. When the umpires and the opponents objected he just threw the bat back in disgust towards Greg Chappell that brough out the replacement willow. That was one scene to behold and one off incident. Have you watched that one? One of the autobiography mentioned this incident. I've read Lillee's and from what he mentions he was more of a country boy with absolutely no pretentions or character. After having joined the Aussie domestic and the international team he changed a whole lot as the naivity was landing him in lot of trouble. The bail he provided to Ian Botham was a interesting incident indeed in one of those infamous Beefy incident. I will try to reproduce those writing if I can find his autobiography in the garage.

I must say I am surprised to hear Venkat as a man with short temper. SOmehow he always came across as man with infinite patience.

I have spoken to him only once and that day he clearly showed a lot of attitude. The older folks that arranged the meeting in the end had enough of him by the end.

[Lurker]

Re: Chasing the Ultimate Glory - India in World Cups, 1975-2003

That one was truly hilirious. When the umpires and the opponents objected he just threw the bat back in disgust towards Greg Chappell that brough out the replacement willow. That was one scene to behold and one off incident. Have you watched that one? One of the autobiography mentioned this incident. I've read Lillee's and from what he mentions he was more of a country boy with absolutely no pretentions or character. After having joined the Aussie domestic and the international team he changed a whole lot as the naivity was landing him in lot of trouble. The bail he provided to Ian Botham was a interesting incident indeed in one of those infamous Beefy incident. I will try to reproduce those writing if I can find his autobiography in the garage.

Ravi, I have his autobiography and yes he does come across as a country boy. I know the incident you mean when Ian Botham was put in Aussie jail and Lillee bailed him out. Imagine that today! A ban for perhaps a few games as well! Coming to the Alumunium bat incident Rod Marsh also played a role in it. As it so happens Dennis Lillee was told by umpires(on request of Brearely the opposing captain that the bat was hurting the ball) to change the bat, he scoffed but then reluctantly agreed. But then when he looked at the players gallery he saw Rod Marsh egging him on, sort of suggesting Poms cant tell you what to do. In the end he threw the bat and it required the captain Greg Chappell to come with new bat(and cool Lillee). I will probably go read that incident today. xxx

[King]

Re: Chasing the Ultimate Glory - India in World Cups, 1975-2003 I have that incident on video as well Lurker, it turly was amazing the sound it made in the ground when the ball hit the aluminium bat. The whole ground was up in laughter :hic: I thought Botham was banned from cricket by the ECB for a while for pot charges. He was charged for Australian civil aircraft charge i.e assaulting a passenger and Lillee went with his 6 year old son to provide him a bail :hic: Doesn't he mention in the book his 6 year old son wanted to see Botham in flesh and blood in the prison

[Birbal2]

Re: Chasing the Ultimate Glory - India in World Cups, 1975-2003 CC1981 you have it BACKWARDS... West Indies won the World Cup in Summer of 1975... Australia didn't demolish them till later that WINTER when Windies toured in 1975-76.... I had a huge argument with a cousin of mine who was older and who thought Australia would win... I as a 9 year old who had just seen West Indies beat my beloved India IN India thought they had a better chance to win this new fangled version of the game... and I was RIGHT...

[shailesh]

Re: Chasing the Ultimate Glory - India in World Cups, 1975-2003 thanks for the comments guys..next edition will be up soon :wtg: btw the score for article is a big 0 :shrug: so pl. take some time and rate the article

[Count Dooku]

Re: Chasing the Ultimate Glory - India in World Cups, 1975-2003

The Moments If this event was the promotion of a new form of cricket, the first match between England and India at Lords came as a public relations nightmare. After winning the toss and batting first, England scored 334 for 4 in their 60 overs. While this came as no real surprise considering difference between the two teams, what followed certainly did. Defying any conceivable logic, India replied, or rather played out their share of overs to reach a paltry 132 for 3. Gavaskar remained not out on 36 off 174 balls after opening the innings, a knock he must have wished never happened. The team, especially Gavaskar came under fire from media and fans with reports of Indian fans running on the ground asking him to move on and another spectator throwing his lunch at Gavaskar?s feet.

Does anybody know reason for Gavasker's slow batting? Did he have a fight with someone and was tying to get even or god forbid he had a bet on his own batting (just kidding - I know he is whiter than white).

[King]

Re: Chasing the Ultimate Glory - India in World Cups, 1975-2003 From what I have read it seems he had a mental block. I think it stems from the fact they didn't quite like the ODI formats and treated it as a festival game. The results of those games didn't really matter to the players then.

[Lurker]

Re: Chasing the Ultimate Glory - India in World Cups, 1975-2003

Does anybody know reason for Gavasker's slow batting? Did he have a fight with someone and was tying to get even or god forbid he had a bet on his own batting (just kidding - I know he is whiter than white).

The reasoning depends on whose account you follow. According to some experts it was Gavaskar's way of showing his discontent with the new format of the game. According to Gavaskar himself it was one of those days when nothing came off. He does mention how he tried to get out but without much luck. His catches were dropped, either consciously or unconsciously, by English players. Though I must say that I am not convinced by Sunny's own opinion(that he wanted to get out but couldnt)..I mean if a man wanted to be dismissed he could be clean bowled without offering a shot or run out. xxx

[CC1981]

Re: Chasing the Ultimate Glory - India in World Cups, 1975-2003

CC1981 you have it BACKWARDS... West Indies won the World Cup in Summer of 1975... Australia didn't demolish them till later that WINTER when Windies toured in 1975-76.... I had a huge argument with a cousin of mine who was older and who thought Australia would win... I as a 9 year old who had just seen West Indies beat my beloved India IN India thought they had a better chance to win this new fangled version of the game... and I was RIGHT...

Thanks for the correction Gaurang. My dad has told me that 75 world cup was expected to be won by the Aussies, simply because they had the best team on paper (biggest names and all that) with the Chappell brothers, Lillee, Thommo, etc. in the mix. WI were depleted in their batting to the point where they had to request Rohan Kanhai to come out of retirement and play!

[shailesh]

Re: Chasing the Ultimate Glory - India in World Cups, 1975-2003

Does anybody know reason for Gavasker's slow batting? Did he have a fight with someone and was tying to get even or god forbid he had a bet on his own batting (just kidding - I know he is whiter than white).

The reasoning depends on whose account you follow. According to some experts it was Gavaskar's way of showing his discontent with the new format of the game. According to Gavaskar himself it was one of those days when nothing came off. He does mention how he tried to get out but without much luck. His catches were dropped, either consciously or unconsciously, by English players. Though I must say that I am not convinced by Sunny's own opinion(that he wanted to get out but couldnt)..I mean if a man wanted to be dismissed he could be clean bowled without offering a shot or run out. xxx

there was some talk of Sunny being unhappy with Venkat's captaincy..I don't buy Sunny's reason either..couldn't get out in 174 balls?

[Holysmoke]

Re: Chasing the Ultimate Glory - India in World Cups, 1975-2003

Does anybody know reason for Gavasker's slow batting? Did he have a fight with someone and was tying to get even or god forbid he had a bet on his own batting (just kidding - I know he is whiter than white).

The reasoning depends on whose account you follow. According to some experts it was Gavaskar's way of showing his discontent with the new format of the game. According to Gavaskar himself it was one of those days when nothing came off. He does mention how he tried to get out but without much luck. His catches were dropped, either consciously or unconsciously, by English players. Though I must say that I am not convinced by Sunny's own opinion(that he wanted to get out but couldnt)..I mean if a man wanted to be dismissed he could be clean bowled without offering a shot or run out. xxx

hit wicket

[Chandan]

Re: Chasing the Ultimate Glory - India in World Cups, 1975-2003

thanks for the comments guys..next edition will be up soon :wtg: btw the score for article is a big 0 :shrug: so pl. take some time and rate the article

How and where can we rate the article?

[shailesh]

Re: Chasing the Ultimate Glory - India in World Cups, 1975-2003 click on the 'Home' link above, you should see the article, click 'Read more' to get in. you can rate, add comments there :wtg: