Ravi Shastri's first Kiwi crush

Ravi Shastri being felicitated by SK Wankhede, who was president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India when he made his India debut in 1981. File pic

Ravi Shastri is no sucker for nostalgia, but it would be surprising if the year 1981 doesn't occupy a little corner of his mindspace as he works on a major assignment in New Zealand.

While Shastri's first experience as Team India's head coach for a full series in New Zealand will be closely followed by supporters and critics alike, it is important to note that his international journey started in this country as a teenager in February 1981.

The 1981 Indian team landed in New Zealand after a memorable win in the Melbourne Test, to square their first series in Australia since the start of the rivalry in 1947-48. But that triumph in Melbourne was achieved despite injuries to Kapil Dev as well as the two spinners, Dilip Doshi and Shivlal Yadav. The team management shuddered to think what would happen in New Zealand without a fully fit spin attack. Shastri, who was playing the Ranji Trophy quarter-final for Bombay against Uttar Pradesh in Kanpur, was summoned to become probably the only cricketer to make his Test debut without a run or wicket in his previous first-class game.

That's the sort of match he endured at Green Park where he was sent back for a duck in both innings by left-arm pacer Anil Mathur. Shastri, whose 10 overs in the game yielded nothing for the wickets column, got the news of his India call-up from a gatekeeper at the guest house where the Bombay team were put up in Kanpur.

Doshi revealed in his book, Spin Punch, that he had learnt Rajinder Goel was the choice of team manager Shahid Durrani, but "Ravi landed in Kiwiland with great haste to replace me for the first Test."

The Mumbai cricket fraternity was delighted with Shastri being summoned, and Vilas Godbole in his book, My Innings in Mumbai Cricket, pointed to Shastri's lucky stars since everyone involved with the decision and his departure to New Zealand were from Mumbai - skipper Gavaskar, assistant manager Bapu Nadkarni, chief selector Polly Umrigar, executive secretary Prof M V Chandgadkar and BCCI president S K Wankhede.

After a 30-hour journey, Shastri reached Wellington around 10.30 pm on Test eve and was told by his captain Sunil Gavaskar that he was in the playing XI not long before Kapil Dev and Yograj Singh opened the bowling at the Basin Reserve.

Shastri claimed the last of the four wickets which New Zealand lost for 200-plus runs on Day One; hanging on to a caught and bowled chance offered by Jeremy Coney. It was a cold day and Shastri was helped in no small measure by the sweater he was wearing, given to him before leaving Mumbai by Umrigar. Shastri hasn't forgotten going over to Umrigar's then Marine Lines home to pick up the jumper that helped keep him warm even though it was a couple of sizes bigger for his frame. Thanks to a touching return gesture by Shastri, the sweater is framed and displayed at the Cricket Club of India's Polly's Bar.

Number 10 Martin Snedden and last man Gary Troup were Shastri's victims as well in that innings followed by the last three batsmen in New Zealand's second innings before the Indian batting line-up failed to reach the 253-run victory target set by New Zealand's century-making skipper Geoff Howarth. Shastri was sent at No. 10 and scored 19, the third highest score of the innings after Sandeep Patil's attacking 42 (7x4) and 26 each from Dilip Vengsarkar and Roger Binny. Lance Cairns, one of the host heroes in that Test, wrote eloquently about Shastri's debut Test in Give it A Heave: "We won the game, but it was a triumph for the 18-year-old Shastri. He had taken three wickets in the first innings. He took another three, for nine, in our second innings debacle; not a bad introduction to Test cricket."

The debacle Cairns referred to was the loss of his team's last three wickets in the space of four balls at the same score of 100 - all three off Shastri and caught by Vengsarkar, fielding close to the bat. And if there is one man in New Zealand who will remember Shastri's left-arm spin exploits at Wellington more than any other player, it would be Troup, who will put his King Pair (dismissed first ball in both innings) down to Shastri's guile.

The next two Tests at Christchurch and Auckland were drawn and Shastri picked his first fifer in the third Test where he claimed seven wickets in the match. On his return from New Zealand, Shastri and his college teammate Shishir Hattangadi drove down to Vogue Tailors at Kemps Corner, made popular to them by Kiran Ashar, the former Ranji Trophy wicketkeeper opening batsman. Malabar Hill's iconic restaurant Café Naaz beckoned after that and it was here where Shastri surprised Hattangadi with the words, "I think I'll make it as a batsman."

Shastri's 15 wickets in the series was on top of the list, but he was way down with only 48 runs in five innings on the batting charts for the series. Hattangadi was surprised by his mate's prediction even though he had seen him plunder a lot of runs at No. 3 and No. 4 in inter-college cricket.

Shastri had other tests to pass in the season of his international debut - his graduation - something which his professor mother insisted upon even though he had attained Test status on the cricket field.

While past is indeed passé for the pragmatic boss of the Indian cricket team's support staff, Shastri will be aware that India have won only two Test series in New Zealand. His 1980-81 tour is not among those two occasions, but his class of 2019-20 can surely join the victorious teams of 1967-68 and 2008-09 if they play to potential.

mid-day's group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance. He tweets @ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com

The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates