LISTICLE
Follow UsThe MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, popularly called Chepauk, sits quietly by the Marina beach on days when there is no cricket. But on days there is a game of bat and ball on display, it becomes one of the most iconic venues to cherish the love of the gentleman’s game.
It is not just the towering new stands that let the cool sea breeze rush past you to refresh you from one of the most humid venues of cricket you will ever come across, or the knowledgeable crowd that sits beside you or just the beauty of ground by the seas, somewhat washed up in the colonial era with few up it stands preserving the rich history. It is rather because the cricket played on the ground will keep you hooked throughout its course, be it a Test match, ODI or T20I.
And this venue is going to host the first Test of the India-Bangladesh two-match series, starting September 19. Before the best test of cricketing skills starts at one of the most iconic grounds, not just in India but the entire world, it will only be fair enough to go on a tour of history and list out the five most iconic Tests played at Chepauk since the first official match in February 1934, more than 90 years ago.
1999 vs Pakistan: When Mushtaq and Afridi nullified Sachin’s brilliance
There used to be a time when India-Pakistan matches used to go down to the wire and it was in all formats. One of the best examples is the 1999 Chennai Test. It was Pakistan’s first game of the tour and they had brought with them a young leg-spinner who had made a name for himself as a big-hitter in the ODIs. However, in Tests, he was just one match old. Nobody thought that Shahid Afridi would be the match-winner for his team.
But as it turned out, Pakistan opted to bat first after winning the toss and posted a modest 238 on the board. Anil Kumble took 6/70. It was assumed that India would post a huge total, but that hardly happened as the hosts got bowled out for 254, getting only a minor lead of 16 runs. Saqlain Mushtaq picked five wickets, and Afridi had three, including that of India’s top-scorer Sourav Ganguly. Afridi got those wickets in just 7.1 overs.
Fuelled by the success of his bowling the Khyber-born Pathan smashed his maiden Test century, 141 off just 191 balls. The innings was laced with 21 fours and three sixes. In reply, despite Sachin Tendulkar’s 136 and a fifty by Nayan Mongia, India fell short by 12 runs in their chase of 271 as Mushtaq took another five-for, making it a 10-wicket haul game for himself.
At one point, with Sachin and Sunil Joshi at the crease having already added 36 together and India needing just 17 more with four wickets in hand, it looked like a cakewalk. But then Mushtaq removed Sachin who was caught by Wasim Akram. This marked the start of a freefall as the last three wickets fell inside the next 20 balls.
1986 vs Australia: The only tied Test match in India
Tied Tests are a rarity so rare that there have been only two so far in the game’s 167-year-old history. Both the tied Tests have involved Australia and the second of them came in 1986 at Chepauk.
Opting to bat first after winning the toss, Australia put on a mammoth 574/7 and declared the innings. David Boon, Dean Jones and Allan Border scored centuries, with Jones going to convert it into a double-ton (210). In reply, the Indians put on 397 with only Kapil Dev reaching the triple figures (119). Australia, scenting victory, declared their second innings at 170/5, setting India a target of 348.
Chasing 348 on the last day of the Test was never going to be easy. But India had done it before. In 1976, they chased down 406 against the mighty West Indies. The team once again went for the chase, and every batter contributed.
While Gavaskar held one end up with his 90, Chandrakant Pandit, Krishnamachari Srikanth and Ravi Shastri scored at more than run-a-ball. Despite first-innings centurion Kapil getting out for 1, India needed four off the last over and 1 off the last three balls to win the game.
Greg Mathews to Maninder Singh, the fifth ball of the last over of the last day, and a controversial LBW decision from umpire Vikramraju, and the match, even after 1488 runs were scored, could not eventually get one team to outscore the other.
2001 vs Australia: The Turbanator arrives
Even after he took 13 wickets across two innings at Eden Gardens, people mostly discussed the Rahul Dravid-VVS Laxman partnership that got India into the winning position. So what did Harbhajan Singh do? In the next match, he went on to pick 15 wickets to make sure that this game in Chennai would be remembered as his game.
Both India and Australia needed a win in this game to take the series. Matthew Hayden smashed 203 and Australia managed to get to 391, despite Harbhajan taking seven wickets.
India replied with a century from Sachin Tendulkar (126) and fifties from Dravid and Laxman to reach 501. In the second innings, the Australians managed to put on 264 and set India a target of 155.
India were cruising along at 101/2, needing only 53 more. But there was a twist in the tale. Sachin, Dravid and Ganguly, all got out in a space of 21 runs. India still needed 33 with five wickets in hand. Wicket-keeper Sameer Dighe held the fort at one end and with eight wickets down and India still needing four more to win, was joined by Harbhajan.
The memories of the tied Test 15 years ago had not blurred in the eyes of the Chennai crowd, they feared worse, a defeat. But, Dighe and Harbhajan made sure that India ended up on the right side of things this time around.
1979 vs West Indies: The one where India survived, just barely
Four years before this game, India had won their first Test against West Indies in India. But this West Indian team, led by Alvin Kallicharan, wanted to avenge that and therefore went all-out. Winning the toss and batting first, they could, however, manage just 228. In reply, India made 255 thanks to a century by Gundappa Viswanath.
While Kalicharan had made 98 in the first innings, Larry Gomes’ 91 took them to 151, setting India a target of 125 runs to win. The Indian team received early blows and were 17/3 before Anshuman Gaekwad and Viswanath added an important 57 for the fourth wicket. With both of them and Bobjee Narsimha Rao falling in the space of 10 runs, India found themselves in trouble again.
However, Kapil Dev (26*) made sure that he was there till the end to win the game. He added 31 for the seventh wicket with Karsan Ghavri and then an unbeaten 10 with Syed Kirmani as India won by three wickets.
1973 vs England: India’s second win at Chennai in 39 years
From 1934 till 1973, India had won only one Test at Chepauk. Yes, in nearly 40 years, just one Test win, and they were up against England in the third Test of the five-match series. Both the teams had won one match each. Winning the toss, England did what all the teams usually do, bat first.
India bowled them out for 242 as Bhagwath Chandrasekhar took 6/90. Indian batters got starts, but none of them could convert them into a century and the team managed to put together 316. Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi top-scored with 73.
In England’s second essay, Bishan Singh Bedi and Erapalli Prasanna took the baton from Chandrasekhar and equally divided eight out of the 10 English wickets to fall as the visitors were bowled out for 159. India needed only 86 to win. Easy, one would say. But the English team decided to turn up with a fight.
India kept losing wickets at regular intervals and all of a sudden, they were 67/5, with top-scorer Salim Durani becoming Peter Pocock’s third victim. Sunil Gavaskar, who did not open the innings, had to eventually come out at number eight after Eknath Solkar, who had added 11 runs with Pataudi was scalped by Pocock with eight runs still needed to win.
Pataudi kept his calm and even without Gavaskar scoring any runs, managed to get his team to their first-ever win in 21 years at the venue. India had last won a game in Chennai in 1952 and it had come against England only.
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