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.
The Seventies, in the annals of Indian cricket, constitute an epoch. Ajit Wadekar proved to be a shrewd and pragmatic captain, leading India to historic away victories in the West Indies and England. Wadekar helmed an all-star side that included Sunil Gavaskar, Gundappa Viswanath, Farokh Engineer, and Dilip Sardesai. It also included the legendary Indian spin quartet of Bishen Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, and S Venkataraghavan.
For a game that favoured white in more ways than one, the Seventies brought a burst of colour. Australian media tycoon Kerry Packer set the cat among the pigeons when he introduced sponsor logos, coloured team uniforms, white balls, and floodlights, earning the ire of cricket boards but bringing irreversible change to the future of televised cricket.
It was a tumultuous decade for the Indian subcontinent. The India-Pakistan war in 1971 birthed the new nation of Bangladesh, while the 21-month Emergency under Indira Gandhi led to a redrawing of political battle lines. Ironically, while their respective countries were at war, Indian and Pakistani cricketers played as one side for the Rest Of The World. Even as geopolitical machinations ran their course, the Indian spin quartet responded to the belligerent and martial pace of the times with their gentle and non-violent bowling, one that without doubt turned the tide.
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 | India West Indies 1971, Glimpse of Port of Spain, Gavaskar felicitations, Wadekar introduces team
- YouTube | Gavaskar Calypso
- YouTube | RR7151A INDIA-PAKISTAN WAR
- YouTube | RR7145A INDIA-PAKISTAN: THE DRIFT TO WAR
- YouTube | Australia vs Rest of World XI 1971⁄72 WACA
- YouTube | Thalikettu marriage music
- YouTube | OPEC OIL EMBARGO — 1973
- YouTube | SYND 09/05/74 RAIL STRIKERS DEMONSTRATE
- YouTube | SYND 17−3−72 NEWLY RELEASED FOOTAGE FROM THE INDO-PAKISTAN WAR
- YouTube | RR7528A INDIA: MRS GANDHI’S EMERGENCY
- YouTube | 1975 — Declaration of Emergency by Then PM Indira Gandhi
- YouTube | RR7528A INDIA: MRS GANDHI’S EMERGENCY
- YouTube | 1971 — Indira Gandhi’s Broadcast to the Nation | Indo-Pakistan War
- YouTube | Kerry Packer World Series Cricket Introduction 1977
- YouTube | Imran Khan vs Rod Marsh | Classic Ball | Kerry Packer Series 1978 – 79
- YouTube | 1978 – 79 WORLD SERIES CRICKET SUPERTEST FINAL
- YouTube | Reliving the Glory Days of World Series Cricket: The Carry Packer Era
- YouTube | Mojo Singers — C’mon Aussie C’mon (1978)
Before you go…
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Well Caught with Giri and Raghu — cricket in sun and shadow
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Captains And Musical Chairs
Discover exciting vignettes about the history of Indian cricket in the second episode of Well Caught with Giri and Raghu
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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.