WTC Final: Will ‘Ganesh Chaturthi’ be special for India? Maidan was killed in 1971, read in detail

The Oval cricket ground in England is something special for India. The Indian team has done many such memorable performances on this ground. So this thing will always be a source of pride for Indians. The most special moment was when the cricket fans were listening to the radio and enjoying every ball, every shot.

India had completed 24 years of independence in 1971. At that time, the Indian team was on a tour of England. At that time, the deciding match of the 3-match Test series was played at the Oval ground. The Indian team under the leadership of Ajit Wadekar played this match in their name. It was the first time India beat England at their home ground. Hence, the Oval ground became a special place for Indian cricketers and fans. Let us know the special performance of India related to this field.

The story of the 1971 Test series victory

Wadekar replaced Pataudi as captain.
Nawab Pataudi, who came to England after defeating the West Indies, was handed the captaincy of the Indian team to Ajit Wadekar. Whereas, Wadekar’s team defeated the West Indies 1-0 in the 5-match Test series between February and March. Then the team came to England in July-August. The series consisted of 3 Test matches. The matches played at Lord’s and Manchester in England ended in draws. However, the deciding match was played between 19 and 24 August at the Oval.

England scored 355 runs in the first innings
England captain Ray Illingworth won the toss and elected to bat. At that time, he set a mountain of 355 runs in front of the Indian team. Wicketkeeper batsman Alan Knott played a brilliant knock of 95 runs. He hit 11 fours and 1 six in this innings. Eknath Solkar took 3 wickets for India. India also struggled and reached the figure of 284 runs. Farooq Engineer completed his half century and scored 59 runs. So, English captain Illingworth took 5 wickets during the match.

Amazing play from Chandrasekhar and England were all out for 101 runs
England were all out for just 101 runs in the second innings. Bhagwat Chandrasekhar performed brilliantly and took 6 wickets for 38 runs. English batsmen could not understand Bhagwat’s leg break and top spin. Ajit Wadekar wrote in his autobiography, “That 6 spin of Chandrasekhar is memorable. After the match, an Indian restaurant named the soup in its restaurant Chandrasekhar Soup.”

A target of 173 runs, a great knock from the engineer
Indian team wanted to reach the target of 173. Ajit Wadekar scored 45, Dilip Sardesai scored 40, and Gundappa Vishwanath scored 33 runs. After one time, India had lost 5 wickets. Farooq Engineer then came on the field and played a crucial innings of 28 runs. The partnership with Vishwanath took the team to victory. However, Vishwanath was not on the field till the victory. He was dismissed with 3 runs to spare. Then Syed Abid Ali came on the pitch. He hit fours to give the team a historic win.

Ajit Wadekar had wrinkles on his forehead during the match and it was because of Eknath Solkar’s super catch. The reason was Alan Knott who scored 91 runs in the first innings. Wadekar knew he could turn the match around at any time. Nott scored only one run. The ball was handed to Venkataraghavan and Eknath Solkar stood at short leg. Not played short and the ball goes towards short leg. At that time, Solkar took a memorable catch which is still historic today. Solkar wrote in an article that- “I just jumped towards the ball. The ball got caught in the finger and it was going to fall, but somehow I took the catch and it was a memorable catch.”

The fans brought the elephants to the ground.
Another incident happened that on the final day of the match it was Ganesh Chaturthi. Indian fans brought an elephant to the field for India’s victory. Fans took this as auspicious and hired an elephant from Chessington Zoo. That elephant also came onto the field during the match. Also, the elephant’s name was Bella. India won the match due to his innings.

India-Australia match will be played again
The final of the World Test Championship will be played between India and Australia on 7 June at 3:00 PM. The match will be held at the Oval in England, and the toss will be held at 2:30 PM. Both the teams will face each other for the first time in England.

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