Captains And Musical Chairs
Discover exciting vignettes about the history of Indian cricket in the second episode of Well Caught with Giri and Raghu
The captains who shaped Indian cricket in the 1950s and 1960s scripted a tale of guts and glory on and off the field.
There was the stylish Ghulam Ahmed who chose to stay with India after Partition (while his nephew Asif Iqbal went on to captain Pakistan). There was the swashbuckling Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, who became the youngest Indian skipper at age 21. Despite losing an eye in a car accident, he played with a ferocity that earned him the nickname of Tiger.
And before them there was the unforgettable Vinoo Mankad. On the Australia tour of 1947 – 48, the legendary all-rounder opened the batting fearlessly against the fearsome pace duo of Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller. After scoring ducks, he knuckled down and took tips from his opponents. By the end of the tour, he had helped himself to a couple of centuries.
Despite their prowess on the field, even the best Indian players had to dance to the tune of the selectors.
Mankad’s blazing talent had attracted the attention of English County leagues, and he was invited to play professional cricket for much better pay. This didn’t go down well with the cricket administration in India, which paid its players a pittance. When the bosses gave him an ultimatum to choose, the feisty Mankad asked them to take a walk.
Credits:
Akshay Ramuhalli, Bijoy Venugopal, Bruce Lee Mani, Narayan Krishnaswamy, Prashant Vasudevan, Sananda Dasgupta, Seema Seth, Shraddha Gautam, Supriya Joshi and Velu Shankar
Acknowledgements and resources:
- YouTube | Jai Galagali channel: West Indies — India 1948 — 1st ever test series Brabourne Stadium Bombay
- India Pakistan 1st Test Match 1952
- 1952 India Pakistan Lucknow 2nd test
- 1950 – 51: Commonwealth Cricket Team arrives in Bombay
- Vinoo Mankad: interviews, clear footage, Golden voices of John Arlott’s and Pratap Sharma
- YouTube | Paul Sawtell: music from Desperate (1947)
- YouTube — 1950 HITS ARCHIVE: The Third Man Theme — Anton Karas (his original #1 version)
- YouTube | Broadcast Imaging channel | Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi || Old Rare Interview || Anmol Ratan Tv Serial (1990)
Before you go…
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Well Caught with Giri and Raghu — cricket in sun and shadow
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Spinning Through The Seventies
For a game that favoured white in more ways than one, the Seventies brought a burst of colour. Team India’s answer to the belligerent and martial pace of the times came in the form of the legendary Indian spin quartet of Bishen Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, and S Venkataraghavan, who responded with their gentle and non-violent bowling. Listen to Episode 3 to know more.
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World Cup Whirlwind
The Eighties saw India on the ascent, aided by a lineup of fluent stroke-makers in Dilip Vengsarkar and Mohammad Azharuddin, and tenacious all-rounders in Kapil Dev and Ravi Shastri. The decade would end with a 16-year-old boy who would walk out into the middle to boldly take a searing Pakistani seam attack on the chin. His name? Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. Listen to Episode 4 of Well Caught with Giri and Raghu for the full story.
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Late Cut
From the colourful radio commentaries that brought the game alive in the early days of Test Cricket to the elaborate theatrics of T20 in modern television broadcasting, cricket has travelled the distance. Reliving the defining moments of the beautiful game, Giri and Raghu hang up their gloves in this series finale of Well Caught.
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Separate Gates, Separate Dressing Rooms
In the first episode of Well Caught with Giri and Raghu, we travel in time to an age when caste and class divide the pavilion. On and off the field, cricket reflects the discrimination that prevails in colonial societies.