Teenage tussles - 1982

The major highlight of the 1982 series between India and England was the exciting - even dazzling - rivalry between Ian Botham and Kapil Dev. Both all-rounders were then at their peak, and they treated this series as a personal contest. At the end of three Tests, one could only say that the duel was a dead heat and that the two were among the best players in the game.

India toured in the first half of the summer, closely following a 1-0 victory in the six-match series against the same opponents at home during the winter. Not unexpectedly though, the result was reversed in England, with the home team winning one match and the other two being drawn. In reality there was very little to choose between the teams, and it was only one shocking batting collapse in the Indian first innings at Lord's that resulted in England pulling off a seven-wicket victory.

There was much criticism when the team was selected. Mohinder Amarnath, who was in form, was not picked, and neither was Roger Binny, who would have revelled in English bowling conditions, as he proved in 1983 and 1986. It was also felt that Ghulam Parkar, Suru Nayak and Randhir Singh were undeserving of selection. Parkar, an opening batsman from Bombay and an outstanding fielder, failed in the only Test he played, though he did reasonably well in the first-class games. Nayak played two Tests, doing nothing of note, while Randhir Singh did not get a look-in. In fact, the medium-pacer from Bihar had the rather sheepish experience of going through the whole tour without scoring a single run. He played three innings and was out for a duck each time.

The team itself did not win a single match on the tour. Of the 12 first-class games, the Indians lost one and drew 11. But it must be said that in most of the matches, there was never any chance of a result thanks to the inclement weather.

After England had won both one-day internationals by nine wickets and 114 runs, the teams got down to the real business of the tour. England, thanks in the main to Derek Randall's 126, led off with 433, despite the efforts of Kapil Dev (5 for 125) and Madan Lal (3 for 99). Then followed the Indian collapse that - as future events proved - cost them the rubber. The tourists slumped to 41 for five, and only some defiance from Sunil Gavaskar (48) and Kapil Dev (41) saw India reach 128. Following on, India did much better. Dilip Vengsarkar got his second successive century at Lord's, hitting boldly to get 157.

But even this majestic innings took second billing to Kapil Dev's pyrotechnics. The ace all-rounder slammed 89 off just 55 balls with 13 fours and three sixes. India ultimately got 369, but the shoddy display in the first innings meant that England had to make just 65 runs for victory. Kapil was not finished yet. He took three wickets by the time England had scored 18, but Allan Lamb and David Gower then proceeded to steer them home.

Botham had not exactly been idle while Kapil was displaying his ubiquitous skills. His contribution was a more modest 67 and a match-haul of six wickets, including five for 46 in the first innings. But in the second Test at Manchester, he really got going. He celebrated his 50th Test by getting his 10th hundred. He raced to 128 off 169 balls, his first 50 coming off only 46 deliveries. England led off with 425.

Kapil Dev endured the rare occurrence of conceding 109 runs without taking a wicket, but he made up with the bat. Entering at 173 for six, Kapil did pretty much what he liked with the bowling, coasting to his half-century off just 33 balls. When he was out for 65 from 55 balls, he had dominated the seventh-wicket partnership of 96 runs with Sandip Patil, who himself was no slouch.

In fact this proved to be the Bombay stroke-player's day as he set a world record by scoring six boundaries off one over from Bob Willis ­ 4440444, with the third delivery being a no-ball. Patil's score progressed from 73 to 104 in an amazing nine balls. At the end of the fourth day, Patil was unbeaten with 129 in a total of 379 for eight, and the final day's play was washed out by rain.

The Botham-Kapil duel reached a stirring climax in the third Test at the Oval. England's star player seemed to have settled the issue in his favour by hitting the fastest double-hundred in Test history. He made it off only 220 balls and was finally out for 208 compiled from just 226 balls with 19 fours and four sixes. In the process, he also removed Gavaskar from the match. The Indian captain was fielding at silly-point, and Botham's fierce squaredrive fractured his left fibula. Kapil had just one wicket for 109 runs as England posted an imposing total of 594. There were genuine fears that India, without Gavaskar, might cave in.

But the Indian teams of the 70s and 80s were made of sterner stuff than their predecessors of the 50s and 60s. Ravi Shastri, opening the innings in a Test for only the second time, scored 66. Gundappa Viswanath (56), Yashpal Sharma (38), Patil (62) and Kirmani (43) all chipped in, but the knock which made sure that India would avoid the follow-on was, predictably enough, played by Kapil Dev.

Kapil struck 97 off 93 balls with 14 fours and two sixes, dominating the record 130-run stand for the sixth wicket with Kirmani. India, even without Gavaskar, made 410 by the fourth evening, and the rest of the match was a formality. Botham picked up two wickets, while Kapil took one more in the second innings.

The personal contest was thus very much a tie. On figures, Botham might be considered the winner, for in addition to scoring 403 runs at an average of 134.33, he also took nine wickets at 35.55 apiece, whereas Kapil Dev - named one of Wisden's cricketers of that year - scored 292 runs at an average of 73.00 and took 10 wickets at 43.90 apiece. But considering the fact that Kapil came up against stronger opposition, there is little doubt that there was nothing to choose between them. Both brought back vivid memories of the greatest hitters in the game. Theirs was clean, scientific hitting, struck through the line and often very straight, not merely cross-bat slogs.

On the tour, Viswanath headed the averages with 561 runs at 62.33, while Vengsarkar was close behind with 610 runs at 55.45. Ashok Malhotra (462), Gavaskar (438), Kapil Dev (438), Ghulam Parkar (433) and Yashpal Sharma (418) all fared reasonably well. The bowling however was another matter. The four principal bowlers - Kapil Dev, Madan Lal, Dilip Doshi and Shastri - were all expensive, while Randhir Singh and Shivlal Yadav paid out even more for a meagre share of the wickets. In short, the batting was a joy but the bowling was alarmingly thin.