As special as ’86
Vengsarkar says Lord’s win sets tone for India in the series, as it did 28 years ago.
For Ishant’s heroics in the Test, we’ve headlined our main story as Lord of Lord’s. But few can dispute that the real Lord of Lord’s is Dilip Vengsarkar. The former India captain has three centuries at the Mecca of cricket and he was at Lord’s yesterday to witness a rare overseas win for India.
When asked to refresh his memory about India’s previous win at the same ground 28 years ago, Vengsarkar was not easily forthcoming. He wanted to talk about present rather than history. But we tried to push him into a flashback mode.
So how the win came about? “The main aspect was that we could achieve the first innings lead. It was not much, nevertheless crucial. It gave us a psychological advantage. They had made 294 batting first and we replied with 341,” Vengsarkar said.
Vengsarkar himself achieved a milestone by becoming the first overseas player to score three successive hundreds at Lord’s. “That could be possible because I got gritty support from the tailenders – More and Maninder. I had a long association with Maninder and in the final scheme of things, it was an important partnership.”
Vengsarkar felt that Kapil Dev’s leadership was much a contributing factor as his own century. “Kapil was inspiring in his leadership and was at the best of form. He had a good support cast and we were not surprised we could beat England at Lord’s. Rightly, he was declared the man of the match.”
Vengsarkar thought yesterday’s win is important in many aspects. “It has set the tone for the team. It will give the team a lot of confidence for the remainder of the series,” Vengsarkar said.
“Given the recent dismal showing abroad, it is a remarkable win. Ajinkya Rahane was solid and Ravindra Jadeja was plucky. Murali Vijay is fast turning out to be a class opener and MS Dhoni has grown up as a captain. His instruction to Ishant Sharma to bowl short was amasterstroke,” Vengsarkar said pointing out the various catalysts of the win.
He felt that the Lord’s pitch was a sporting wicket but it was unfair on India. “The toss became crucial. Batting first was not easy as there was a lot of grass and moisture on the surface. In that context, Rahane’s innings was outstanding, one of the best by an India, I reckon,” Vengsarkar averred.
June 5-10, 1986
England 294 (G Gooch 114, D Pringle 63, T Robinson 35, C Sharma 5-64, R Binny 3-55, Maninder 1-45) & 180 (M Gatting 40, A Lamb 39, P Downton 29, Kapil Dev 4-52, Maninder 3-9, R Shastri 1-21) lost to India 341 (D Vengsarkar 126*, M Amarnath 69, S Gavaskar 34, G Dilley 4-146, D Pringle 3-58, J Emburey 1-28) & 136-5 (D Vengsarkar 33, Kapil Dev 23*, SM Gavaskar 22, G Dilley 2-28, D Pringle 1-30, P Edmonds 1-51)
For Ishant’s heroics in the Test, we’ve headlined our main story as Lord of Lord’s. But few can dispute that the real Lord of Lord’s is Dilip Vengsarkar. The former India captain has three centuries at the Mecca of cricket and he was at Lord’s yesterday to witness a rare overseas win for India.
When asked to refresh his memory about India’s previous win at the same ground 28 years ago, Vengsarkar was not easily forthcoming. He wanted to talk about present rather than history. But we tried to push him into a flashback mode.
“It was a special win because it was our first win at the Lord’s. The key to success was that all the players were at the peak of their careers. Name any one - Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Mohinder Amarnath, Mohammed Azharuddin, Ravi Shastri, Chetan Sharma, Roger Binny and Maninder Singh -- and they were playing their best. It was an allround team and it was not easy to beat us - in India or abroad,” he analysed.
So how the win came about? “The main aspect was that we could achieve the first innings lead. It was not much, nevertheless crucial. It gave us a psychological advantage. They had made 294 batting first and we replied with 341,” Vengsarkar said.
Vengsarkar himself achieved a milestone by becoming the first overseas player to score three successive hundreds at Lord’s. “That could be possible because I got gritty support from the tailenders – More and Maninder. I had a long association with Maninder and in the final scheme of things, it was an important partnership.”
Vengsarkar felt that Kapil Dev’s leadership was much a contributing factor as his own century. “Kapil was inspiring in his leadership and was at the best of form. He had a good support cast and we were not surprised we could beat England at Lord’s. Rightly, he was declared the man of the match.”
Vengsarkar thought yesterday’s win is important in many aspects. “It has set the tone for the team. It will give the team a lot of confidence for the remainder of the series,” Vengsarkar said.
“Given the recent dismal showing abroad, it is a remarkable win. Ajinkya Rahane was solid and Ravindra Jadeja was plucky. Murali Vijay is fast turning out to be a class opener and MS Dhoni has grown up as a captain. His instruction to Ishant Sharma to bowl short was amasterstroke,” Vengsarkar said pointing out the various catalysts of the win.
He felt that the Lord’s pitch was a sporting wicket but it was unfair on India. “The toss became crucial. Batting first was not easy as there was a lot of grass and moisture on the surface. In that context, Rahane’s innings was outstanding, one of the best by an India, I reckon,” Vengsarkar averred.
June 5-10, 1986
England 294 (G Gooch 114, D Pringle 63, T Robinson 35, C Sharma 5-64, R Binny 3-55, Maninder 1-45) & 180 (M Gatting 40, A Lamb 39, P Downton 29, Kapil Dev 4-52, Maninder 3-9, R Shastri 1-21) lost to India 341 (D Vengsarkar 126*, M Amarnath 69, S Gavaskar 34, G Dilley 4-146, D Pringle 3-58, J Emburey 1-28) & 136-5 (D Vengsarkar 33, Kapil Dev 23*, SM Gavaskar 22, G Dilley 2-28, D Pringle 1-30, P Edmonds 1-51)
