Ravi Shastri Says 1971 Series Win In England "Lifted Spirits Of Indian Cricket"
Indian head coach Ravi Shastri said the 1971 series win in England "lifted the spirits of the Indian cricket in huge manner" and gave India the belief that they can go overseas and win.
Highlights
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India won the three-match Test series 1-0 in England in 1971
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August 24, 2021 marks 50 years of India's 1st Test series win in England
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50 years have gone by and those players really set the tone: Ravi Shastri
On the 50th anniversary of India's historic 1971 Test series win in England, head coach Ravi Shastri refreshed his memories of that epic tour and explained how it ushered a new chapter in Indian cricket. The date of August 24, 2021 marks 50 years of a historic feat that saw the Ajit Wadekar-led side defeat England to seal India's first Test series triumph on English soil following their landmark series win in West Indies earlier in 1971. "I was nine years old and I remember every ball bowled in that Test match because I was listening to the radio. I remember Farokh Engineer getting runs in both innings. Vishy getting some runs, Ajit Wadekar getting some runs in the match," said Shastri in a video posted on the BCCI website.
A special series win
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 24, 2021
A new chapter in Indian cricket history
As we celebrate years of #TeamIndia's historic 1971 Test series win in England, Head Coach @RaviShastriOfc reminisces his memories of that epic series.
Full videohttps://t.co/64rke20QF6 pic.twitter.com/PJghyG9mTQ
"And of course the brilliance of Chandrasekhar, you know, he turned the game on his head, 6 for 38, I still remember the figures," he added.
Shastri, the head coach of the Indian side, said the 1971 series win gave the unit the belief of winning the games on foreign soil.
"The 1971 series win in England lifted spirits of Indian cricket in a huge manner. It gave them the belief that they can go overseas and win. And to do it in England is always historic. 50 years have gone by, and those players really set the tone. Hats off to all of them," said Shastri.
India and England went into the third and final Test after drawing the first two matches of the series at Lord's and Manchester respectively.
Batting first, England posted 355 runs on the board and India in response put on 284 courtesy fifties from Dilip Sardesai and Engineer and valuable 40s from captain Wadekar and Eknath Solkar, who had also scalped three England wickets in the first innings.
Bhagwath Chandrasekhar then turned the game in India's favour in England's 2nd innings.
The legendary leg-spinner ran through the England batting line-up and returned with figures of 6/38 as India bowled England out for 101.
While Srinivas Venkataraghavan picked two wickets, in addition to a sharp catch, and Bishan Bedi got a wicket, Solkar grabbed two outstanding catches at short-leg.
India, who needed 173 runs to secure a win, then held their nerve as Wadekar, Sardesai, Gundappa Viswanath and Engineer scored 45, 40, 33 and 28 not out respectively and went on to seal a historic four-wicket win.
India Cricket Team
England Cricket Team