Chandra: Pat’s move tricked WI at Eden in 1974-75

Chandra: Pat's move tricked WI at Eden in 1974-75

One of Indian cricket's greatest annals came during the Kolkata Test in December 1974 when the celebrated skipper-bowler duo of Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi and Bhagwat Chandrasekhar prevented Clive Lloyd's West Indies from going up three-nil in the five-match Test series.

Chandrasekhar

Chasing 310, overnight batsmen Alvin Kallicharran (48) and Lloyd (13) flayed the Indian bowlers, especially Chandrasekhar, in the morning session of the fifth and final day, looking set to win the series and ruin Pataudi's return to the helm of Indian cricket.

Chandrasekhar soon produced a gem of a ball that bowled Lloyd off his pads and opened the floodgates for a famous Indian win. "I started the day, bowling very poorly. Lloyd really went after me ufffd I conceded almost 30 runs from three overs. Lloyd and Kallicharan were batting at their absolute best. Also, we didn't have too many runs to play with. He (Pataudi) removed me from the attack, and sent me to the third man boundary to field.
"Suddenly, he changed his mind, called me, and told me to continue the bowling. Even the West Indian batsmen were shocked, and so was I.u00a0

"Immediately, I got Lloyd out, and got two more wickets in the next three overs. I can never forget the catch Vishy (Gundappa Vishwanath) took at slip to remove Kallicharan in the next over. Everybody praised Pataudi's captaincy after that match.

"We (Pataudi and I) never spoke too much. He understood my bowling, and what I was thinking about the next ball. Not that I thought too much about the next ball. But he understood me better than any captain I played under (at any level)," Chandrasekhar told MiD DAY a day after Pataudi took his last breath in New Delhi.
"I closed my eyes for a few minutes and couldn't digest the news (of his death). It was the biggest shock of my life. It was too early for him to go. He had many more years left in. Somehow, he left us too soon," concluded Chandrasekhar.