When Richard Hadlee floored Rajkot and West Zone

As Rajkot hosts its third Test match since it became a Test venue in 2016 there is a cricket great far away who if following the third Test of the ongoing India v England series will remember Rajkot with a certain degree of fondness His name Sir Richard Hadlee For it was at Rajkotrsquos Municipal Stadium where the illustrious fast bowlerrsquos engine gathered steam for him to go past Ian Bothamrsquos then world record tally of 373 Test wickets in the opening Test at BangaloreRajkot was where John Wrightrsquos New Zealanders began their 198889 tour of India Their opponents were the Lalchand Rajputled West Zone team while the Indian team were away in Bangladesh for the Asia CupRajput won the toss and decided to bat finishing Day One on 1494 all wickets to RJ Hadlee The following day overnight batsman Shrikant Kalyani could add only one to his impressive 81 and became Hadleersquos fifth victim On a flat surface Hadlee added four to his tally to end up with 955 his best figures in nonTest match cricket This Rajkot feat came three Novembers after Hadleersquos 952 against Australia in the 198586 Brisbane TestSulakshan Kulkarni the only player who didnrsquot succumb to Hadleersquos guile remembers the spells as if he saw them from close quarters yesterday ldquoHadlee was my hero and I was transfixed as soon as he started bowling in that match He was accurate and got the incutter going on that Rajkot track which I like to describe as a runway Irsquom a coach now and work with a bowling machine I can say that Hadlee was more accurate than a bowling machine There was no help from the pitch as the game didnrsquot start in the morning for that dew factor to be exploited because the kit of the New Zealand team arrived laterdquo Kulkarni recalledAccording to The Sportstar the kit arrived by road from Mumbai at 1230 pm and play could start only at 145 pm G Viswanath the magazinersquos reporter said that the BCCI were not to blame for the kit delay like they were for the kit delay of the Australian team for the Jamshedpur ODI in 198485 as the New Zealand management themselves had opted for road transport which took 22 hours six more than the normal timeThe offfield snafu didnrsquot bother Hadlee He went about his task as a top pro his focus firmly on doing well on the tour Opening batsman Shishir Hattangadi who was castled by Hadlee for one told me on Wednesday that there was no question of leaving the Kiwi greatrsquos deliveries alone simply because he didnrsquot give you any room to play your shots ldquoHe was at you all the time The delayed start too played on our minds but it didnrsquot affect him Hadlee seemed to like the initial bounce the Indian ball offered and I remember him asking the umpires if the same brand of balls would be used in the Test matches Hadlee came saw and swept us away He didnrsquot give us time to appreciate his craftrdquo said Hattangadi who despite his impressive scores for Mumbai was never selected to play for his zone save this one game While Hadlee wove his magic onedrop batsman Shrikant Kalyani held firm scoring 82 shrugging off the heartinthemouth moment when Hadlee bowled him off a noball when the Maharashtra captain had scored only a couple of runsKalyani and Barodarsquos Tushar Arothe put on 129 for the fifth wicket but both perished when Hadlee came on for his first spell on Day Two Kulkarni and Bhavin Radia combined for an eighthwicket partnership of 69 runs Mumbairsquos Kulkarni was the last man out falling to John Bracewell for 47 while offie Radia claimed four wickets as New Zealand ended their tour opener with 3387 Skipper Wright worked his way to a century as opener in the drawn game made special by his premier fast bowlerIn Rhythm and Swing Hadlee wrote ldquoOur first tour match in Rajkot against West Zone wasnrsquot expected to produce anything out of the ordinary certainly not a result But I came close to a careerbest taking nine for 55 and extracting four lbw decisions from one of the Test umpires Piloo Reporter Just like Brisbane 1985 I had a chance of taking all 10 wickets but John Bracewell prevented that I was still delighted though mainly to see the new ball move appreciably in the air Nothing happened off the pitch but the movement in the air further emphasised just how crucial it would be to use the new ball wisely I also watched the Indian batsmen closely interested to see how they handled seam and swing bowling Only a couple of them played with confidence by pushing forward at me the rest floundered around the crease giving me possible legbefore chancesrdquoAfter the match Kulkarni went over to meet his idol in the New Zealand dressing room for a photograph and autograph He found Hadlee seated near the door with his cricket coffin open The inside lid had an inscription of his Test venuewise wicket targets He ended up with 18 in three Tests and though the Kiwis lost to Dilip Vengsarkarrsquos side at Bangalore and Hyderabad they won the Mumbai Test While memories of Hadleersquos 955 in Rajkot are vivid the squads for todayrsquos Test match have two great fast bowlersmdashone a veteran James Anderson and the other a feisty young man Jasprit Bumrah Like Hadlee in 1988 they may rely on swing rather than sheer speed to outwit the batsmen at spinfriendly Rajkotmiddayrsquos 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 individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper