Scorecard of the day II: When two titans met for the first time

[Mr. Wicket]

http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/53/53859.html A major statistical highlight: Tendulkar made history here as the first person to score hundreds on debut in the Ranji, Irani and Duleep Trophy. What's also notable is that this is the first time that Ganguly and Tendulkar took part in the same f/c game - this time on opposing sides. Ganguly took 4 wickets with his medium pace and a catch off Tendulkar, before scoring an unbeaten 124 against Bombay's bowlers to respond to the mammoth Bombay total thanks to that star studded lineup.

[Lurker]

That West Zone team is strong! Batting wise it is almost the Indian team of its time - Shashtri, Rajput, Manjrekar, SRT, Kambli, Vengsarkar, More. Strong batting outfit. Bowling wise fairly decent too with Raju Kulkarni and Rashid Patel leading the opening attack with Shastri as lead spinner. Mumbai has historically been batting stronghold but somehow never been a great bowling side. Exceptions were there of course - Ramakant Desai, Shivalkar, Mankad etc. Bowling powerhouse has always been Karnataka.

[Mr. Wicket]

Or in the North, Lurks. Even Bombay's best bowlers were not really out and out wicket taking bowlers. Guys like Bapu Nadkarni and Mankad could bowl long spells, but rarely were the kind who'd rip through a side in a day or so. Their strength has historically come from strong batting lineups who could pile up monstrous totals, and then bowlers who could keep bowling tirelessly, plugging away and picking up wickets like Bapu Nadkarni, Mankad and these days Nilesh Kulkarni and Powar, rather than bowlers who'd simply rip through a lineup.

[Lurker]

Salil, You are correct about Nadkarni but I would argue that Vinoo Mankad was a different breed. True as a traditional left arm spinner he would try to bog down a batsmen and take wickets but still the man is easily one of the best spinners we ever produced and one that was widely respected and feared. He has two tenners in a Test, including one against Pakistan against Kardar side. Mankad's mention should also merit rememberance of Subhas Gupte, that diminutive Mumbai leggie(wonder how I forgot him). They didnt play together too much as Mankad had moved to Rajasthan towards the end of his career but what a sight would it be to see Mankad and Gupe bowl in tandem!! Has there ever been a stronger spin attack in India? Perhaps not. xxx

[Mr. Wicket]

Agree Lurks, and I was actually just thinking of 'Fergie' Gupte as the most significant exception to the rule. I believe no less an authority than Bill O'Reilly called him one of the greatest spinners of all time when he was alive. I won't argue that Mankad was a fantastic SLA, but as you said he would try and bog down players, frustrate them and then dismiss them - the type of bowler I mentioned that Bombay's often produced (to work with their very reliable/consistent batting lineups through the years). Gupte was probably the only Bombay bowler who could really rip through a side in a small period of time with near-unplayable spells on a lot of pitches. OTOH, Karnataka's produced quite a few of that type - Srinath, Kumble and Chandra most notably.

[Lurker]

Agree Lurks, and I was actually just thinking of 'Fergie' Gupte as the most significant exception to the rule. I believe no less an authority than Bill O'Reilly called him one of the greatest spinners of all time when he was alive.

I have also heard Gary Sobers mention that Gupte was the best leg spinner he ever saw. Now this was before Warne so not sure if Sobers thinks otherwise today but one has to bear in mind that Sobers atleast played against other leg spin greats like Benaud, Chandra. Tall claim indeed.

Gupte was probably the only Bombay bowler who could really rip through a side in a small period of time with near-unplayable spells on a lot of pitches.

Yes I can agree to that. Vinoo Mankad is also credited to be the best coach India never had. One of his favorite style of coaching bowlers was to dig a coin in the ground outside off, then place it on top of off-stump. The bowler then had to pitch at the impression on the ground and then try to hit the top. If he did the coin was his. This was no different to his skill as a bowler which was basically line and length. Now that I think of there was another Mumbai bowler, all-rounder, that we forget. Dattu Phadkar. He was quite popular and cut a Kapil like figure for his time.

[The Outsider]

Looking at the scorecard, it's really surprising West Zone did not push for a win. I mean leading by almost 300 runs in the first innings and then batting again. This match is perhaps a classic example of the BS about the first innings lead that has been floating around in Indian domestic cricket.

[Mr. Wicket]

Not really, prof. The set up of the tourney that year was two semi finals - Central v. North, and South v. the winner of West/East. West had the first innings lead, so they had no need to push for anything further - a draw would suit them just as well as a win to get to the next round. The semi and the final saw even more farcical messes - check out these scorecards. http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/53/53890.html http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/53/53922.html The North/Central semi that year was the only Duleep game that saw an outright win.

[Chandan]

Can't believe that Ganguly bowled 33 overs in the 1st inning. 33 overs is a lot. Even though he went for runs, he took wickets as well. I noticed that the venue of that match was Guwahati. Does the ball swing there? It was a terrific match for both Sachin and Saurav. Wish I had been following first class cricket then!

[Mr. Wicket]

Look up some of the old Ranji and Duleep matches from this time - both Ganguly and Tendulkar bowled a lot.

[King]

Awesome. That's one good scorecard. I think Tendulkar was about 19 years of age then. Tendlkar had by then played test cricket too. Honestly Ganguly outshone Tendulkar in this game. A hundred and 4 wickets to boot. Fantastic effort that. Can't recognize too many bowlers from both sides. Bowling looked a bit thin on both sides.