Through the seventies India had a reasonably good cricket side.They won series away in the West Indies and England in 1971 and played a close series against Australia albeit Packer depleted in 1978.They also played a few memorable series at home winning against England in 1972-73 and running West Indies close in 1974-75.Players like Gavaskar, Vishwanath, Mohinder Amarnath, Mansoor Ali Khan,Prasanna, Chandrasekhar, Bedi, Venkatraghavan,Engineer and Kirmani formed the core.They were good and performed well and India lost more often than not.All the while everyone was looking for a fast bowler.Till Kapil Dev arrived in 1978, the search was always on.Generally one medium pacer was picked and a batsman who could bowl opened with him. Even though the seventies did not witness the ridiculous incident of a wicketkeeper sharing the new ball, things were bad.Solkar often opened the bowling and even Gavaskar bowled afew overs with the new ball.
The Indian side was often comprising of three spinners if not four and a medium pacer like Abid Ali who could bat.All these Years India had two competent medium pacers: Madan Lal and Karsan Ghavri.However in deference to our famed spin quartet, they never played together for any length of time. Medium pacers who opened with Andy Roberts in the 1974-75 series between West Indies and India in India included Julien and Boyce who have fewer wickets than either Ghavri and Madan Lal.Hoever in that series the two played only two tests together.India won both of those tests,though they bowled less than 15 overs between them without taking wickets in the fourt test when India drew level.They had bowled with spunk and taken five wickets at Calcutta in the test before this one.
Madan Lal and Ghavri alternated against England in 1975-76 at home and in Australia in 1977-78.In Australia, the left armer Ghavri took eleven wickets in three and Madan Lal took nine in two including a five for.The series was close and if two spinners and two medium pacers backed by Amarnath had played,the team would have been more balanced and could have possibly won five zero, so close were the three tests that India lost.The seventies, therefore were wasted years when Indian selectors kept looking for Lillee and Thomson ignoring their own versions of Walker and Gilmour.
The overall performance would have been better.
The Indian side was often comprising of three spinners if not four and a medium pacer like Abid Ali who could bat.All these Years India had two competent medium pacers: Madan Lal and Karsan Ghavri.However in deference to our famed spin quartet, they never played together for any length of time. Medium pacers who opened with Andy Roberts in the 1974-75 series between West Indies and India in India included Julien and Boyce who have fewer wickets than either Ghavri and Madan Lal.Hoever in that series the two played only two tests together.India won both of those tests,though they bowled less than 15 overs between them without taking wickets in the fourt test when India drew level.They had bowled with spunk and taken five wickets at Calcutta in the test before this one.
Madan Lal and Ghavri alternated against England in 1975-76 at home and in Australia in 1977-78.In Australia, the left armer Ghavri took eleven wickets in three and Madan Lal took nine in two including a five for.The series was close and if two spinners and two medium pacers backed by Amarnath had played,the team would have been more balanced and could have possibly won five zero, so close were the three tests that India lost.The seventies, therefore were wasted years when Indian selectors kept looking for Lillee and Thomson ignoring their own versions of Walker and Gilmour.
The overall performance would have been better.
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