The tale of a win that didn't come to be

Early in the Indian cricket season of 1982-83, a fan of the Delhi team could be excused some arrogance and complacency. Delhi's Ranji team had won the national domestic competition in 1979 and 1980, lost the final in 1981 and then won again in 1982. The team seemed unstoppable; the word "dynasty" was not then used, but it might as well have been. The players in Delhi's squad were a veritable pantheon of local heroes: Chetan Chauhan, Raman Lamba, Mohinder and Surinder Amarnath, Kirti Azad, Maninder Singh, Sunil Valson, Gursharan Singh, Surinder Khanna. The list went on. It was a good time to be a Delhi fan.

So it was with justifiable anticipation that the Delhi fan looked forward to the Irani Cup final to be played in October 1982. It would kick off another season of Delhi glory, another march to the summit of Indian domestic cricket. The capital would once again show the rest of India just how cricket was to be played. Nothing could or would stand in the way of this juggernaut. The timing of the final seemed appropriately festive: sandwiched between Dussehra and Diwali. And all five days would be telecast live, even to local markets. The weather was right, we were the champions, all was set.

Things only got better once the game began. Nineties from Raman Lamba and Gursharan Singh and a century from Mohinder Amarnath took Delhi to a first-innings total of 429. Some were alarmed by the collapse from 337 for 3 to 429 all out, and wondered if enough had been done to secure the prized first-innings lead, but such anxieties were quickly dispelled once Rest of India had been bowled out for 267. Sunil Gavaskar bowled for a duck by Maninder - was any further proof needed that Delhi now reigned supreme in Indian cricket? It was not just a game-drawing, trophy-winning first-innings lead, it was likely to ensure an authentic outright win.

This hope persisted even as Delhi, in their second innings, stumbled on the third day, reaching 202 for 8. Delhi were now 369 ahead, and a draw or win seemed overwhelmingly likely. The next day Delhi batted on till they were all out for 258. Rest of India were now left to bat out the rest of the day, only nominally chasing an impossible 421.

That final day, I prepared to preen a little. Victory, even if only secured via the first-innings lead, would be sweet; bragging rights had been secure for a while, perhaps till the end of the season when Delhi would surely win the Ranji Trophy again.

Some five hours and 83 overs later, I had been smartly slapped upside the head. Riding a whirlwind 110 by Kris Srikkanth, the World Cup hero, which kicked off their chase, Rest of India scored 424 runs to win by five wickets. The portly Ashok Malhotra backed up Srikkanth's efforts with a hectic 116, finishing off the match in some style. The Delhi hero of the first innings, Maninder Singh, now went for 180 runs in 38.2 overs. The devastation was complete.

In all my years of watching domestic cricket, I have yet to see a more astonishing and unexpected run chase. There have been more exciting, more down-to-the-wire finishes in India's domestic competitions, but very few match this one for sheer audacity, for its overturning of a seemingly preordained script.

And in case you were wondering, Delhi did not win the Ranji Trophy that year. Worse still, they lost to Bombay that year and the year after. Those losses were partially assuaged by memories of a great Delhi win in the Ranji Trophy a little earlier - on which more anon.