On the fourth day of the first Test, a full house at Headingley saw pulsating cricket, as the advantage frequently switched hands between India and England.
Some 300 km south, Dilip Doshi, the former Indian left-arm spinner died peacefully at the age of 77.
After living under the shadow of great Bishan Bedi for a long time, he finally got his chance to represent India in Tests against Kim Hughes’ Australians.
He was already 32; and with 114 wickets from 33 Tests; he became the second player, after Australian leg-spinning great Clarrie Grimmett to take more than 100 wickets after making his debut over the age of 30.
While his record doesn’t put him in the category among the greats; he certainly did an admirable job during a difficult era.
Like many other orthodox spinners, he mostly remained away from the spotlight. A quiet person, on and off the field, many consider him to be the ultimate gentleman of cricket. While his Test career only lasted four years, he enjoyed a long and distinguished career at first-class level.
Apart from representing Saurashtra and Bengal in Ranji Trophy, the also played for couple of Midland Counties in England.
I have special reasons to remember him. I always wanted to be a left arm spin bowler, and he was the first truly top class spinner I had a chance to watch live from the stadium gallery.
The Saurashtra tradition
Ever since Ranji, the Prince from Jamnagar, burst in to world cricket late in the 19th century, enthralling the cricketing crowd with his effortless timing and delicate wristwork, the region Saurashtra, in Western India, has become a great hub for producing and nourishing cricket talents.
Jamnagar produced Ranji and Duleep for England, while Junagadh, further south along the Arab Sea coast provided the Mohammad brothers for Pakistan. As for India, a good number of their top cricketers, including Doshi, has come from Rajkot, more centrally located within the region.
While Suarashtra has produced top batters, all-rounders, wicket-Keepers, pace bowlers, leg spinners – its specialty seems to be producing slow left-arm spinners.
Vinoo Mankad, emerging after WWII, featured prominently in all of India’s initial Test success. Salim Durani, became a national hero, following his match wining bowling displays against Ted Dexter’s England in 1961-62.
In modern times, Ravindra Jadeja is carrying on the tradition. Even Karson Ghavri, a contemporary of Doshi, picked in the Indian team as a new ball bowler, often performed admirably as a left-arm spinner.
Ravindra Jadeja. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
So, as Doshi made his first-class debut for Saurashtra, he was carrying a long legacy. But, interestingly, most of his success came after he moved to Calcutta, and started representing Bengal in the Ranji Trophy.
By the mid 1970s he had become a highly respected figure in India’s domestic cricket. However, just like Rajinder Goel of Delhi/Haryana and Padmakar Shivalkar of Bombay, he remained under the shadow of the great Bishan Bedi.
In fact, he was luckier than the other two. After Bedi and Bhagwat Chandrasekhar disappeared from international cricket, he finally got his chance to represent India, in the autumn of 1979.
The first series
In his first Test at Madras, Doshi recorded the highly impressive figures of 6-103 and 2-64. Graeme Wood, from WA, was his first victim, trapped LBW.
For Doshi, it was a highly satisfactory belated start. But, Sunil Gavaskar, the Indian captain, wasn’t fully satisfied. On the opening day, two inexperienced batters, Allan Border and Kim Hughes, looked completely as ease against the Indian spinners; both scoring hundreds sharing a double century partnership on the way.
Then on the final day, the Indian team relied on Doshi and veteran offie Venkat to deliver the Killing blow, but while they were accurate, they failed to bowl the Aussies out.
Wickets died out for Doshi after this Test; but he finished with a bang; his eight-wicket haul in the final match at Wankhede helped India wrap up the six-game series 2-0.
For the next three years or so, he remained an integral part of the Indian team, supporting Kapil Dev on most occasions. And, he played his part in the MCG drama of 1981.
The Unsung Hero of MCG
Gundappa Vishwanath’s century, Gavaskar’s attempted walkout on the fourth day, and then Kapil Dev’s blistering spell on the final morning, have all found their rightful places in the annals of Indian cricket history.
Yet, as so often is the case of left arm orthodox spinners, Doshi’s efforts are mostly forgotten. After producing a marathon effort (3-109 from 52 overs) in the first innings, he again did a great containing job in the second innings. He took 2-33 from 22 overs.
On the final day, he made the initial breakthrough, bowling Hughes, the double centurion from the previous match; Kapil then did the rest.
Sunil Gavaskar. (Photo by Jason McCawley – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
A real rabbit with the bat
Although Doshi came into the Indian team as a replacement for Bedi; as a batter, he replaced Chandra more.
Just the stats should be enough in this case:
Doshi 129 runs HS 20 Avg 4.60
Chandra: 167 runs HS 22 Avg 4.07
Uneasy alliance with Gavaskar
All but three of his Doshi’s 33 Tests came under the leadership of Gavaskar. But, the Indian captain never seemed to have the fullest confidence on the ability of the Bengal spinner.
I used to follow Indian cricket with very keen interest at the time; and while this issue didn’t become as ‘famous’ as the ‘Bradman-Grimmett rivalry’, it was discussed quite frequently in the Indian press at the time.
It seemed to many, that Sunny was expecting Doshi to be an exact replacement for Bedi; just the same way many expected Shivlal Yadav to replace Pras perfectly. Gavaskar often talked about the lack of killer venom in Doshi’s bowling. Doshi’s ordinary fielding and poor batting didn’t help his cause either.
Doshi was dropped during the middle of the tour to Pakistan in1982-83. Zaheer Abbas had stared a run feast in the opening Test at Lahore; Mudassar Nazar, Javed Miandad and others soon joined in the party.
Doshi, and all the other bowlers suffered badly. Earlier, in the season, he had taken eight wickets in the one-off Test at Chennai against Sri Lanka but again, it wasn’t enough for an Indian victory.
The Indian skipper was especially irked about the ease with which Duleep Mendis and Roy Dias handled the Indian spin attack.
After the Pakistan tour, Doshi was dropped from the team, led by Kapil Dev, to tour West Indies.
Although, he would make a brief come back, for one test against Pakistan in the autumn. The selectors put great hope on Maninder Sinhg, a protégé of Bedi; but his 10 year-long international career would be a start and stop affair.
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