Bryan Adams’ chartbusting number, ‘Summer of 69’, is a song that cuts across generations.
For the Indian cricket team — an endearing story began just a year earlier — in the summer of ’68. Some memories are forever.
It was in New Zealand, 1968, that India registered its first Test series triumph on foreign soil. The 3-1 victory in the four-Test series was path-breaking for Indian cricket.
And now we are in the Golden Jubilee year of that monumental conquest — achieved in March — by the late Tiger Pataudi and his men.
Pataudi’s aggressive captaincy — he kept attacking fields, dared batsmen to go after bowlers, and brought a whole new approach to leadership — was the cornerstone of that stupendous achievement.
India landed in New Zealand after being blanked 4-0 by Australia.
No pushovers
Although India went down, it had played some hard, competitive cricket against the strong Bill Lawry-led side.
In fact, the Aussies just managed to squeeze home by 39 runs in a titanic Test at Brisbane.
And Erapalli Prasanna — the master of spin, flight and deception — had excelled with 25 wickets in four Tests at 27.44, engaging the likes of the fleet-footed Ian Chappell in classic duels.
And, Prasanna, never a domestic tiger limited by conditions, would go on to play a key role in New Zealand as well with 24 scalps in four matches at a stunning 18.79.
In fact, Pataudi and Prasanna, kindred spirits, shared a symbiotic relationship. Setting up batsmen and luring them to doom was the name of the game.
It was Prasanna’s six for 94 in the Kiwi second innings of the first Test at Dunedin that opened the doors to India’s maiden Test victory, by five wickets, on foreign soil.
New Zealand, with men such as Graham Dowling, Bevan Congdon and Mark Burgess in its batting line-up and having the lively Bruce Taylor and Dick Motz sharing the new ball, hit back with a six-wicket win in the second Test in Christchurch. Dowling came up with an epic 239.
India grabbed the lead again in Wellington, nailing the Test by eight wickets. Prasanna’s five for 32 in the first innings, the stylish southpaw Ajit Wadekar’s influential 143 at No. 3 and that miserly left-arm spinner Bapu Nadkarni’s six for 43 in the second innings were major contributions.
India closed out the series with an emphatic 272-run victory in Auckland with the foxy Prasanna scalping eight in the match, the mercurial Bishan Singh Bedi donning a supporting role and the under-rated southpaw Rusi Surti — he bowled his left-arm seamers with verve, too — making a crucial 99.
This was also a series where the dashing Farokh Engineer opened and kept wickets with typical flair and panache.
And Pataudi’s men made history. The Summer of ’68 put India on the path to greater glory.
