|
|
Tour of
England 1979 Captain: S Venkataraghaven
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Eighteenth Test tour
Ninth Test-playing tour of England by India
(May – September 1979)
|
Sunil
Gavaskar was demoted from the captaincy and Syed Kirmani left out of the party altogether. In some
quarters these facts were linked to them taking an option for the 1978-79 season with Kerry Packer, although neither of them ever
played in World Series Cricket.
In a World
Cup year Venkataraghavan was again asked to lead
the side and again failed to reach the final stages. The team then started
its full tour of England. The first Test at Edgbaston
was lost by an innings after England had amassed 633 runs and then let
loose their fast bowlers in helpful conditions. The second Test at Lord’s
would also have been lost had it not been for centuries scored by Viswanath and Vengsarkar who
added 210 runs in a record third wicket partnership.
But the
Indians held a master card, their opening batsman Gavaskar.
After being set 438 runs to win at The Oval they came desperately close to
winning the fourth Test. Gavaskar played a
phenomenal innings of 221 (after an opening stand of 213 with Chauhan) and
India ended undefeated and only 9 runs short of their target.
|
Other Indian tours
Previous tour
Pakistan
1978-79
Next tour
Australia & New Zealand 1980-81
|
|
|
|
Members of the Test tour
party (16)
Opening batsmen Sunil Gavaskar, Chetan Chauhan, Anshuman
Gaekwad.
Middle-order batsmen: Mohinder Amarnath, Dilip Vengsarkar, Gundappa Viswanath, Yashpal Sharma, Brijesh Patel, Yajurvindra
Singh.
Wicket-keepers: Surinder Khanna,
Bharat Reddy
Spin bowlers: Bishan Bedi, Bhagwat
Chandrasekhar, Srinivas Venkataraghaven
Fast bowlers: Kharsan Ghavri, Kapil Dev.
|
|
M B Amarnath
|
D
|
28
|
RHB RM
|
|
|
|
B S Bedi
|
D
|
32
|
SLA
|
|
|
|
B S Chandrasekhar
|
K
|
34
|
LBG
|
|
|
|
C P S Chauhan
|
D
|
31
|
RHB opener
|
|
|
|
A D Gaekwad
|
Ba
|
26
|
RHB opener
|
|
|
|
S M Gavaskar
|
B
|
30
|
RHB opener
|
|
|
|
K D Ghavri
|
B
|
28
|
LHB LFM
|
|
|
|
Kapil Dev
|
Hy
|
20
|
RFM
|
|
|
|
S C Khanna
|
D
|
23
|
WK
|
|
|
|
B P Patel
|
K
|
26
|
RHB
|
|
|
|
B Reddy
|
TN
|
24
|
reserve WK
|
|
|
|
D B Vengsarkar
|
B
|
23
|
RHB
|
|
|
|
S Venkataraghaven
|
TN
|
34
|
OB captain
|
|
|
|
G R Viswanath
|
K
|
30
|
RHB vice-captain
|
|
|
|
J Yajurvindrasingh
|
Mh
|
26
|
RHB
|
|
|
|
M Yashpal
Sharma
|
Pj
|
24
|
RHB
|
|
|
|
Representation of teams:
Ba -
Baroda (1)
B -
Bombay (3)
D -
Delhi (4)
Hy - Haryana
(1)
K - Karnataka (3)
Mh – Maharashtra (1)
Pj - Punjab
(1)
TN – Tamil Nadu (2)
Average age of players at
time of first Test match (12 July 1979) : 27 yrs 10 months.
|
|
|
|
Test Appearances made before the tour
|
Bedi
64, Chandrasekhar 57, Viswanath 52, Gavaskar 46, Venkataraghaven 43,
Amarnath 23, Patel 21,
Vengsarkar 20, Gaekwad
19, Chauhan 18, Ghavri 18, Kapil Dev 9, Yajurvindra
2, Khanna 0, Reddy 0,
Yashpal 0.
|
|
|
|
|
Team Officials
|
|
C D Gopinath
|
Tour Manager
|
|
G G
Desai
|
Treasurer
|
|
|
|
|
|
Selectors
|
P R Umrigar
(chairman), M L Jaisimha, V L Mehra, C D Gopinath, D G Phadkar.
|
|
|
|
|
Selection
|
Venkataraghaven
was appointed skipper.
Unavailable:
Not included
: Syed Kirmani
Tour Party Announced : 8 February 1979.
|
Time between selection and departure from India
110 days
(8 February - 29 May)
|
|
|
|
Travel
|
Gavaskar and Bedi arrived on 19
April for the Chubb World Double Wicket tournament at Wembley. The main
touring party flew from Bombay to London on 29 May 1979. Because the World Cup sponsors Prudential
provided for only 14 players and hotel places were hard to find,
Chandrasekhar and Chauhan who would not be taking part in the World Cup
flew in later.
|
Time spent in England
x days
(29 May - September)
|
|
|
|
On-tour selection committee
|
Venkataraghaven (captain), Viswanath
(vice-captain), Gavaskar, Gopinath (manager).
|
|
|
|
|
Reinforcements
|
None, although Amarnath
fractured his skull in the Nottinghamshire match and took no further part
in the tour.
|
|
|
|
|
Fixtures/Results
|
|
†Scarborough
|
World Cup warm up match
|
|
|
§ Edgbaston
|
West Indies (World Cup)
|
Lost 9 w
|
|
§ Headingley
|
New Zealand (World Cup)
|
Lost 8 w
|
|
§ Old Trafford
|
Sri Lanka (World Cup)
|
Lost 47 r
|
|
|
|
|
|
Northampton
|
Northamptonshire
|
Drawn
|
|
Lord's
|
M C C
|
Drawn
|
|
Southampton
|
Hampshire
|
Drawn
|
|
Leicester
|
Leicestershire
|
Drawn
|
|
EDGBASTON
|
ENGLAND First Test
|
LOST inns 83 r
|
|
Wellington
|
Minor Counties
|
Drawn
|
|
Bristol
|
Gloucestershire
|
Lost 7 w
|
|
Swansea
|
Glamorgan
|
Won 7 w
|
|
Taunton
|
Somerset
|
Drawn
|
|
LORD'S
|
ENGLAND Second Test
|
DRAWN
|
|
Derby
|
Derbyshire
|
Drawn
|
|
Chelmsford
|
Essex
|
Drawn
|
|
HEADINGLEY
|
ENGLAND Third Test
|
Drawn
|
|
Old Trafford
|
Lancashire
|
Drawn
|
|
Trent Bridge
|
Nottinghamshire
|
Lost 6 w
|
|
THE OVAL
|
ENGLAND Fourth Test
|
DRAWN
|
|
|
|
|
|
†not first-class
§ one-day international
Time spent in England before First
Test:
74 days
(29 April - 12 July)
|
|
|
|
Test appearances on tour
|
4 - Chauhan, Gavaskar, Ghavri, Kapil Dev, Reddy,
Vengsarkar, Venkataraghaven, Viswanath.
3 - Bedi, Yashpal Sharma.
2 - Amarnath, Gaekwad.
1 - Chandrasekhar, Yajurvindra
Singh.
0 - Khanna, Patel.
|
|
|
|
|
Highlights
|
• Viswanath (78 and 51) and Gavaskar
(61 and 68) were the only ones to
resist in the first Test defeat
• A
stand of 210 between Vengsarkar and Viswanath saved the Second Test at Lord's
• India
were set 438 to win at The Oval and the match finished with them only
9 runs short of victory,
• Gavaskar
scored 221 in eight hours at The Oval, to end a series in which his scores
brought 577 runs.
|
|
|
|
|
Tour Summary
|
|
|
P
|
W
|
L
|
D
|
Aban
|
|
Test Matches
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
-
|
|
Other first-class matches
|
12
|
1
|
2
|
9
|
-
|
|
ϯ Minor matches
|
1
|
|
|
|
|
|
§One-day internationals
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
-
|
|
All Matches
|
20
|
1
|
6
|
12
|
-
|
|
|
|
|
|
Return to India
|
The team flew from Heathrow
Airport, London, to New Delhi, where Bedi,
Chauhan, Kapil Dev, Khanna and Yashpal alighted;
and on to Bombay, by which time the Indian Board had replaced Venkat with Gavaskar for the
captaincy in the forthcoming series against Australia. Unfortunately, the
plane’s pilot announced it during the flight before Venkat
had been notified.
|
Time away from India
x days (29 May to
September 1979
|
|