India v England - Series Summary

After the opening two Tests had resulted in high scoring draws, it looked as though we were in for a good, old-fashioned Indian series, played on dead pitches designed to break bowlers' hearts, but in Bangalore it all changed. Gavaskar's decision to bat on a slightly damp wicket backfired, India were bowled out inside a day, and England won by an innings to seize an initiative which they never relinquished for the remainder of the series.

Before Bangalore, Gavaskar's leadership of the team was unquestioned; India entered the series with a chance to rise above Australia in the rankings, and his record breaking 415* in Ahmedabad seemed to place him at the pinnacle of his trade. There were murmurings to the effect that he should have pressed for victory rather than for records, but they remained murmurings, that is until the disaster in Bangalore, after which both his innings and that of the team as a whole were suddenly derided as folly. A second heavy defeat at Nagpur only served to exacerbate the situation, despite Gavaskar's own defiant century, and just two Tests after beating Bradman's record, Gavaskar was dethroned as captain.

Whether Pataudi will take the team to New Zealand is unclear, but there will undoubtedly be a clear out in the ranks before that tour. The spin of Bedi, Prasanna and Chandrasekhar simply wasn't a factor over the course of the series, and the quest continues for a settled opening partner for Gavaskar, assuming of course that his services are actually retained. One positive to come out of the series for India was the all-round form of Kapil Dev, and one wonders whether he may finally be making the breakthrough at this level.

As far as England are concerned, a 3-0 series victory must have been beyond their wildest dreams, especially after conceding almost 1400 runs in two innings over the course of the first two Tests. India's submission at the hands of Laker on the first day in Bangalore was the turning point of the series, and the partnership of Laker and Underwood proved irresistible from that point onward, with Underwood never having bowled better throughout his ATG career. Bob Willis provided some incisive pace back-up in the last two Tests, but the contributions of the remainder of England's seam attack were decidedly muted.

England's batting was extremely consistent, with the first day failure in the final Test the only poor performance of the series; even then, the tourists redeemed themselves with 526 in the second innings. Hutton led from the front with a number of solid innings, and whilst the top six all made significant contributions, it was Les Ames at number seven who was the real revelation, with his unbeaten 165 in the final Test a real tour de force. Whilst it must be said that Ames' keeping was inconsistent, it would appear that any hopes harboured by Alan Knott for a return to the team any time soon will have to remain on hold.

India Batting

	M	I	No	Runs	HS	Avge	100	50
SM Gavaskar	5	9	1	637	415*	79.63	2	-
M Azharuddin	5	8	-	356	179	44.50	1	1
VS Hazare	5	9	1	355	127	44.38	1	2
M Amarnath	2	4	-	174	70	43.50	-	2
Kapil Dev	5	8	2	244	91	40.67	-	1

India Bowling

	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Avge	Best	5I	10M
VS Hazare	46.1	128	6	21.33	2-24	-	-
SP Gupte	64.0	210	8	26.25	5-173	1	-
Kapil Dev	203.0	622	19	32.74	5-78	1	-
EAS Prasanna	124.2	345	8	43.13	4-73	-	-
BS Bedi	171.0	456	10	45.60	4-121	-	-

England Batting

	M	I	No	Runs	HS	Avge	100	50
LEG Ames	5	7	2	454	165*	90.80	2	2
WR Hammond	5	8	1	500	115	71.43	2	3
L Hutton	5	8	-	420	130	52.50	2	2
JB Hobbs	5	8	-	364	174	45.50	1	1
MC Cowdrey	5	7	-	314	72	44.86	-	3

England Bowling

	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Avge	Best	5I	10M
RGD Willis	48.2	167	7	23.86	3-56	-	-
DL Underwood	244.3	609	23	26.48	8-74	2	-
JC Laker	206.3	606	20	30.30	7-41	2	1
JB Statham	103.0	260	5	52.00	3-25	-	-
IT Botham	144.0	498	7	71.14	2-51	-	-

ENGLAND WON THE SERIES 3-0

Players of the Series: Kapil Dev & DL Underwood