Grab and savour a slice of history!

It was in Sydney on the last Test tour of Australia where India made history by clinching their maiden series win Down UnderThe Sydney Cricket Ground SCG provides another opportunity for the Indian cricket team to embellish the history books This they can do by becoming only the second Indian side after Bishan Singh Bedis men in 197778 to win backtoback Test matches on Australian soilAfter losses in the first two Tests at Brisbane and Perth the Indians stormed back to win in Melbourne by 222 runs and followed that up with an innings victory over the hosts in the fourth Test at SydneyInterestingly that SCG Test like todays third Test tussle started on January 7 Not sure who would win the toss today but Bob Simpson was lucky then and chose to put his inexperienced bunch of batsmen to the test against the worlds best spin attackGary Cosier was sent back by an offcutter from Mohinder Amarnath and the promising Peter Toohey was run out to have Australia in early trouble at 34 for two Cosiers opening partner John Dyson was as adhesive as glue and a section of his home crowd was unimpressed Celebrated writer Ray Robinson found it important to report a Sydney Hill placard that read Av a go Dyson It didnt seem to have any effect on the young New South Welshman as he put his forward defence to use in his twoandahalfhour vigil at the crease before BS Chandrasekhar trapped him leg before for 26In came young and exciting Kim Hughes He clubbed Bedi for a six at the pavilionend two balls later there was a straightdriven four He then tried to cut the Indian captains quicker one and was bowled In Hughess biography Golden Boy written by Christian Ryan the author said Hughess off stump seemed to have almost caught fireRyan informed readers of the awardwinning book that a 12yearold Steve Waugh was watching from the stands Little did that youngster envisage that he would play for Australia against India at this very ground eight years later and figure for the last time in a Test under his beloved baggy green in 2004 That was when Sourav Gangulys men prevented Australia from running away with yet another home series win in that era of domination Of course India could have won that game tooBack to the 197778 Test Australia were bowled out for 131 with Bedi claiming three while Chandrasekhars four came close on the heels of his 12 scalps in the previous Test at MelbourneThe Indian openers Sunil Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan battled the Jeff Thomsonled attack to end Day One at 86 for no lossRain delayed the start of the second day and when play resumed Thomson continued to bend his back on an unresponsive surface which just about suited him better on Day Two what with the pitch sweating under the coversThomson was nearlethal and had Gavaskar caught behind by Steve Rixon one short of his half century The Indian master had scored three centuries in the series but had not reached double figures in the first innings in any of the three previous Tests Also the 97run opening partnership was the best in the series Robinson quoted the great Keith Miller in his Sportsweeks World of Cricket report as saying Sunil handles Thomson as well as any batsman I can recall When Miller was asked by a broadcaster as to how would he have bowled to Gavaskar he said Id have stood in the slips and let others bowlGundappa Viswanath 79 and Dilip Vengsarkar 48 put on 125 for the fourth wicket and an 81run stand between Syed Kirmani 42 and Karsan Ghavri 64 for the seventh wicket took the game away from the Australians Bedi copped a blow from Thomson on his right thumb and declared at 396 for eight before Thomson could end up with a deserving fifer and cause another injuryIndia had outbatted their opponents but were also helped by some sloppy catching from the hostsTalking about catches Indias substitute fielder S Madan Lal came up with a memorable effort when he held on to Peter Tooheys hook shot off Karsan Ghavri running in from backward square leg Simpson who took 110 catches in his career reckoned it was the catch of the series and one of the finest outfield catches he had seen during his long stint in the game Toohey scored 85 with the help of a runner as he had damaged his ankle while fielding on a wet part of the groundBedi claimed two wickets in Australias second innings to take his match tally to five for a manofthematch honour worth 500 also given for the fine way he led his troopsSimpson insisted in his match analysis for World of Cricket Monthly that Erapalli Prasannarsquos 451 in the second innings was critical for India He also felt that the best offspinner in the world was neglected for most of the series Prasannarsquos second innings victims were Simpson himself as well as Craig Sergeant Tony Mann and Thomsonrsquos pace partner Wayne ClarkBedi became the first overseas captain to square a series after losing the first two Tests in Australia That joy was shortlived as India went on to lose the fifth and final Test at Adelaide and with it the series 23There is time for the curtains to come down on the current series but in Sydney Ajinkya Rahanes India will do well to take that important step towards making the January 1519 finale a seriescapturing opportunitymiddays group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individuals and dont represent those of the paper