Indias great fight back at the Oval in 1979-commemorating 35 years

[Harsh Thakor]

If I had to pick a cricketing moment that rang the bell most in my mind in England then above any game it would be India's historic fightback at the Oval in 1979,when chasing a mammoth 4th innings target of 438 runs,which would have enabled India to square the series at 1-1.More than India's wins at Lords in 1986 or 2014 or it's 1st win at the Oval in 1971 I cherish this performance.Tomorrow India faces a similar challenge at the Oval being 1 test down and with a bid to square the series.I hope this 1979 fight back inspires India. India were hopelessly outplayed at Edgbaston ,beaten by an innings and 77 runs.In the 2nd test at Lords India seemed crashing towards another defeat before a magnificient rearguard partnership of over 200 runs for the 4th wicket between Vishwanath and Vengsarkar,rescued India for a draw.At Leeds India played about on par to save the test .In the 4th test at the Oval India were 100 runs in arrears in the 1st innings scoring 205 runs and England declared at 338-8 giving India a 438 run victory target.Before the close on the 4th day l the Indian opening batsmen batted sedately taking India to 76-0 at the close.On the final day India needed a further 365 runs to pull of a famous victory. On the final day it was a revelation witnessing the composure and fluidity of both Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan.Nothing in the world seemed to disturb them who resembled the calmest of seas.At 213, Chetan Chauhan was dismissed and Dilip Vengsarkar carried on where Chauhan left driving and cutting with meticuluos skill.On the other side Gavaskar was compiling a classic innings like writing chapters of a famous epic.Every bad ball was dispatched to the fence and every good ball treated on merit.Gavaskar looked like an architect designing a famous monument ,driving the ball to every corner of the field with the precision of a surgeon.Above all he took India to the threshold of what could arguably have been it's best ever test win. At 366-2, Vengsarakar was dismissed and India had sensed victory at tea at 329-1,needing 110 runs from 20 overs.Now 12 overs were remaining but skipper Venkatraghavan made the biggest blunder of sending in Kapil Dev instead of Gundappa Vishwanath.Vishwanath's great ability to improvise and find the gap would surely have won the game.Ironically Kapil Dev was dismissed holding out for zero and still Yashpal Sharma was sent instead of Vishy.At 390 runs Gavaskar's long 9 hour vigil at the crease ended when he drove a ball from Botham to David Gower.India now needed 49 runs in 8 overs with 6 wickets in hand. Gundappa Vishwanath strode in and started of like car getting into gear before you could say Jack Robinson.In a mere 2 overs he scored a mini-gem of 15 runs with 2 of the most exquisite of drives bissecting the field.Tragically Vishy became a victim of a wrong umpiring decision and was given out of a bump ball.The trend continued with Yashpal Sharma and Yujvinder Singh both becoming victims of dubious leg -before decisions.To top it all skipper Venkatraghavan was wrongly declared run out.In the end it was left to Karsan Ghavri and Bharat Reddy to stave off defeat who held out for a draw.India finished at 429-8,just 9 runs short of the record 4th innings total to win a game in a test match. Morally to me India won the game and achieved the record 4th innings total in a run chase.Without doubt it was one of the greatest comebacks ever in the history of test cricket,reminding you of battalion ressurected from the grave going on to the brink of famous win in a battle.The spirit of Indian cricket was literally ressurected that day by India who blazed themselves to glory.It was almost as though the English umpires launched a conspiracy against India with 4 Indian victims of umpiring blunders.The spirit of English sportsmanship also fell that day with Mike Brearley slowing down the over rate when India was cruising home.I also cannot believe that the same David Constant would have given English batsmen out to those very deliveries.I just can't express what a moment it would have been for the game seeing Gavaskar and Vishwanath take India home.Few sights could be better than witnessing the technical perfection of Gavaskar with the poetic artistry of Vishy.Infact but for his wrong decision Vishy could well have continued where Sunil left and took India past the winning post.Vishy's flourish in the end could well have given Gavaskar's mammoth epic the perfect finishing touch. I was in England at that time but the feelings of Indians hearing the commentary on the radio sets was always on my mind and I visualized the blood pounding in their hearts with India(particularly in Bombay) blazing on the brink of glory.It is difficult to imagine how every boundary of Gavaskar elevated the pulse rate of every Indian cricket fan .It was like daylight taking over darkness.For thousands of Indians who were victims of racial tension it was great morale booster,lifting their self -respect.In many ways the fight back reflected India's anti-colonial pride.Infact India that day won the hearts of many an English supporter who wanted India to win.I find it difficult visualizing any side playing like India did that day .I remember an Englishman state that England would never have been able to play that way in the circumstances. To me technically,Gavaskar played the best innings ever in a 4th innings run chase ,comparable to the great double centuries of Hammond and Bradman.Len Hutton claimed Gavaskar was the best batsman in the world at that time and Mike Brearley rated Sunny as the best opening batsmen in the world,ahead of Geoff Boycott or Gordon Greenidge.It is difficult to envisage Viv or Barry Richards or even Sachin Tendulkar surpass Gavaskar's effort that day.For 442 deliveries he did not commit a single mistake,exhibiting the concentration of a Buddhist monk. The following summer the same team conquered one of the strongest Pakistani teams in India before ironically going down to England in the 1980 Jubilee test.It is ironic that Vishwanath called back Bob Taylor which may well have sealed the game for England.He could have taken revenge for the wrong decision that cost India the Oval test the previous season. Some of India's best efforts have been at the Oval be it in 1971 ,in 1979 in 1982 or 90 although India was triumphant only in 1971.I wonder whether the 1979 spirit will be resurrected in the final game at the Oval tomorrow!

[adi B]

mashallah,another anecdote by our own harsh ji :hatsoff:

[Brainfade]

What an incredible post! Mods, article this one and archive it forever. This match completely hooked me on to cricket. For full disclosure, I was 9 years old ... my daughter is 9 now, wow! But I digress ... I had listened intently to the Bob Simpson 1978 series and Kapil's debut series in Pakistan, also 1978, but never really quite grasped everything. But the 1979 England series changed everything. As a Bengalurian, I was miffed that Venkat was made the captain. Then, miffed that Bharat Reddy was picked ahead of Kirmani - how dare they!! Clearly, it was regionalism at work! And then, 221 happened, followed by the Vishy demotion and mini-miracle. It all came to a boiling point, and I was hooked on to Indian cricket forever. As for the poll question, I don't remember enough about the umpiring, but I am convinced that we would have won if we had Kirmani instead of Bharat Reddy :-)!!

[vvvslaxman]

Good one Sir !! :hatsoff: Great knock.

[vvvslaxman]

Regarding the umpiring i have no knowledge about it. But in 1992 i know India could have won Adelaide test but for umpiring. We lost by 38 runs?

[Brainfade]

I think Harsh should start the official match thread for the Oval match. What say, Mods?

[kubrickian]

Nice write up. Interesting to know India fell short of only 8 runs short of highest run chase ever back in 79.

[vvvslaxman]

Nice write up. Interesting to know India fell short of only 8 runs short of highest run chase ever back in 79.

It is similar to SA chasing us down and missing by few runs and opting for draw.

[putrevus]

how old was this guy when the match took place , how can he make assertions about umpiring errors, was he at the match.I have not read anywhere about umpiring issues?

[kubrickian]

This is the scorecard. http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/current/match/63240.html