As the Pakistani fielders left the ground in the final hour of the Bangalore Test of 1983/84, Sunil Gavaskar waited for them to return.
Gavaskar had not been in form in 1983. Earlier that year, he had returned from the West Indies with an average of 30 across nine Test innings. Then followed the World Cup, where India’s fairytale win had not quite overshadowed his 59 runs at a sub-10 average. The buzz around him going past Don Bradman’s 29 Test hundreds had not died down, but his form had been a matter of discussion in the media.
Three years earlier, Gavaskar had a stint with Somerset. There, he had noticed Mike Brearley don a fibreglass skullcap, and requested the Nottingham-based manufacturer to build one for him. This one was customised, with an opening on the top to allow him to wear his famous sunhat. It was in this season that Gavaskar decided to finally wear it.
“I wanted to stop jabbing the ball from my face, and give it the treatment instead,” he later recollected in Runs ’n’ Ruins. He was finally going to bring out the hook he had stowed away for so long.
There was no Imran Khan or Sarfraz Nawaz, but Tahir Naqqash (5-76) reduced India to 85-6 in the first Test, at Bangalore, despite Gavaskar’s 42 amidst bursts of rain. Roger Binny (83 not out) and Madan Lal (74) then made their career-best scores, and India recovered to 275.
Javed Miandad (99) later missed out on a hundred, but Wasim Bari (64) helped Pakistan take a 13-run lead even as Kapil Dev claimed 5-68. By then, rain had consumed too much time: India began their second innings just before lunch on the final day.
There was obviously no chance of a result, but there was enough time for some batting practice. Gavaskar, on a solitary run at lunch, moved to 37 by tea. He took 156 balls for his half-century just before the start of the final hour, which required twenty mandatory overs to be bowled. Ten overs later, he was on 64.
Zaheer walks off, Gavaskar waits
Ahead of the season, the astrologer Jitu Patel had told Gavaskar that he would get his 28th hundred on the final day of the Bangalore Test. It is not known whether that instilled any additional belief in Gavaskar’s mind, but he raced to 84 over the course of the next four overs.
It was evident that not only was he getting his old touch back but he was also batting with more aggression than usual. “Gavaskar shed his defensive nature,” wrote Sunder Rajan in The Times of India. “He batted without inhibition. At the same time, he seldom chanced his arm. He displayed remarkable judgement of the ball and control over his shots as he repeatedly pierced the field with the cut and the pull, the drive and the sweep.”
Throughout the Indian innings, Pakistan captain Zaheer Abbas had been asking the umpires, Swaroop Kishen and Madhavrao Gothoskar, about when they might be allowed to go off the field. As per the Laws, there needed to be a minimum of 77 overs per day. The umpires, however, had explained that twenty overs in the final hour on the final day got precedence over that.
Yet, to the confusion of many, Zaheer walked off with his team after 77 overs had been bowled that day, leaving Gavaskar and Anshuman Gaekwad on the pitch, accompanied by the two umpires. “Technically we had won the match at that point,” recalled Gavaskar, hinting at a walkover. “But in cases like this, and particularly in Indo-Pak cricket, a little flexibility is to be allowed.”
Finally, after 23 minutes of waiting, the Pakistan team returned – only after, as per a report in Sportstar, Karnataka State Cricket Association secretary C Nagaraj requested them in order to prevent a “law and order” situation. The fear was not without reason. After play had been called off early on the first day despite bright sunshine – the outfield had been a concern – the agitated crowd had smashed chairs and thrown debris on the ground. Kapil and Zaheer had come out to plea for peace. The riot police had to be summoned.
However, Gothoskar cited another reason in The Burning Finger: unless Zaheer returned with his team, the match would be rewarded to India.
Gavaskar was on 99 when Mudassar Nazar came to bowl the final stipulated over of the Test. He steered the ball to the deep-third fence. By the time he had raised his bat, Zaheer had already started walking towards the pavilion. As his team followed, so did the Indian openers.
At the post-match presentation, Zaheer explained the entire episode was caused by “misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the rules”. In Sportsweek, Khalid Ansari found the explanation “curious” for someone who has played Test cricket in all countries, calling Zaheer’s act “inexcusable and unsportsmanlike in the extreme”. He also criticised Intikhab Alam, the long-standing Pakistan team manager.
Later that season, Gavaskar equalled and went past Bradman’s tally. He would stretch his count to 34 Test hundreds, a world record that would stand until the mid-2000s.
