It was a celebration of sorts — India travelling to the once-prohibited territory of South Africa, the land where Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi evolved from a lawyer to a crusader, scripting India’s deliverance from the British.
The place abounded with fascinating tales from the cricket field but we were venturing into a zone of intrigue and uncertainty, expectations fired by the excitement of seeing some legends of the game.
They had long retired but it did not matter. Meeting them in person was a compelling thought.
Grand welcome The team’s arrival in Durban (November, 1992) was announced with a parade in open vehicles from the airport to the city centre.
This was warm reciprocation for the >passionate reception accorded to the South African squad when it had travelled to India the year before. Citizens lined up through the route and greeted Mohammad Azharuddin’s team to cricket infrastructure that was astonishingly first world.
Apartheid had been abolished and South Africa was a fledgling society aspiring to keep pace with the rest of the world. Its cricket, however, had not lost any sheen as it looked to erase the pain of being banished from international cricket in 1970 because of its Apartheid policy.
India’s visit to South Africa had been billed the Friendship Tour but the series had some unpleasant moments.
There were quite a few firsts at Kingsmead.
The third umpire was a welcome innovation. Omar Henry, at 40, became the first non-white player to represent South Africa. Kepler Wessels, who hit a century, wore the South African cap after having turned out for Australia.
When the toss took place, Kingsmead was filling up. The threat of rain was a deterrent but the show had to go on. History was made as India met South Africa for the first ever Test between the two nations.
Ominous start It was a moment to capture for posterity. Kapil Dev to Jimmy Cook. The roar, in a flash, became a hush.
The ball, bending nicely, kissed Cook’s bat and flew to second slip where Sachin Tendulkar was amazingly alert. A wicket off the first ball of a Test but not before umpire Steve Bucknor confirmed with Karl Liebenberg if the catch had been taken cleanly since he had been unsighted by the bowler.
In a chat with this reporter a day before the match, Bucknor had asserted he would not consult the third umpire.
Those were days when the umpires would speak to the press without reservations. One could even saunter to the pitch and tap it too.
Later, Tendulkar walked into the record books as the first batsman to be judged out by the third umpire. He took on the electric Jonty Rhodes and came to grief.
In that historic Test, India discovered a star in Pravin Amre, who cracked a century on debut on a lively pitch with the likes of Allan Donald and Brett Schultz letting the ball rip and bounce alarmingly.
Thanks to Amre and the gutsy Kiran More, the Indians won a psychological point by claiming the first innings lead.
The draw was a fair result and a glorious chapter had opened in world cricket. However, India would go on to lose the four-Test series 1-0.
Meeting Madiba The highlight of the tour, apart from the games, was the interaction with the great Nelson Mandela, who championed the cause for abolishing Apartheid.
An off-the-field happening is worth recalling. I had a fortuitous encounter with a legendary South African on the morning of the first day. “Do you want a story?” the security guard I was chatting with asked.
“You see that man there. They don’t give Colin Bland match ticket.”
No ticket for Bland, a legend, an exceptional fielder at cover and mid-on in his heyday. Nicknamed ‘Golden Eagle’ for his fielding, dramatically changing the course of the match with a run out or a catch, Bland would stage fund-raising exhibitions of fielding skills to meet his expenses.
He managed to gain entry to Kingsmead even as he revealed his misery of being jobless.
Meeting Bland in such excruciating circumstances is a lasting memory from a tour that gave us opportunities to interact with former stars like Graeme Pollock, Peter Pollock, Eddie Barlow and Mike Procter.
The >Test at Kingsmead is mostly a blur though — perhaps not for Ravi Shastri, part of the Indian team for that match, now plotting South Africa’s downfall as team director.
