Architect of victories across the seas

Rohit Mahajan

Ajit Wadekar, who died at age 77 on Wednesday, described himself as "pretty cold-blooded" in his memoirs, My Cricketing Years. That cold-blooded nature was severely tested in 1971 when he led India to their first wins in West Indies and England. Sport and war unite a nation like nothing else — that year, India experienced glory in both sport and war. A strong wave of nationalism roused India the year Wadekar rode the crest of the wave in cricket.

For nearly 40 years, India had suffered humiliation on cricket tours of England. Indian batsmen were praised for their "oriental" wizardry, the terms for being good losers. But on August 24, 1971, India beat England in a Test match in London. The previous two matches had been drawn — Wadekar, thus, became the first Indian captain to win a Test series in England. Wadekar wasn't particularly agitated as India chased 173 for victory in the fourth innings; in fact, he was asleep when India won — he put it down to his cold-blooded nature. "The cheering and the excitement of our supporters at the Oval did not disturb me…. I had been run-out when the match was still in the balance, but it did not upset me," he wrote. "For I knew that, when it came to the crunch, Sardesai, Viswanath, Solkar, and Engineer would face up to the challenge and carry us to victory." So he simply went to sleep during the nerve-jangling period of the "the greatest day of my life".

India's triumph caused frenzy among fans back home. The flight to Mumbai was diverted to New Delhi so that the team could be personally congratulated by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. In Mumbai, the less official reception was more impressive — the triumphant motorcade travelled 20 km from the airport to the Cricket Club of India, with an estimated 15 lakh people lining the streets.

This was the second rapturous welcome for Wadekar and his men in Mumbai in 1971 — in April, India had won a Test series for the first time in the West Indies. Wadekar, leading India for the first time, was hailed as a national hero. Then, in 1972-73, India beat England 2-1 at home. There were no official rankings then, but the team was probably the best in the world at that time, and proclaimed "world champions" by Indian fans.

Then came the horrors of 1974, and Wadekar's cold-blooded nature was tested again. It was the worst year of his life. India toured England for three Tests and lost 3-0. In the second Test at Lord's, they were bowled out for 42. India lost two Tests by an innings and one by 113 runs. The playing conditions, in early English summer, were very difficult; the team was riven by dissent, rebellion and controversies. But Wadekar bore the brunt of the public anger. He was dropped from even the West Zone team, and this forced his hand — he decided to retire from cricket. Thus ended the career, in absolute disgrace, of India's greatest captain. But he took it calmly — he had been promoted by his employer, the State Bank of India, and he decided to focus on banking.

Cricketer by chance

Growing up, Wadekar's father wanted him to focus on mathematics, in which he was very good. He got into cricket just by chance — his father gifted him a lovely bat. "Perhaps, my father relented because I had ‘maxed’ my algebra paper," he wrote. He perfected his aim as a fielder by knocking down fruit from mango trees. 

He got into the India team at the ripe old age of age 25 and didn't exactly set the stage on fire. But he got runs in England in 1967 and New Zealand the following year, when India won a series abroad for the first time ever.

Wadekar became a very fine batsman but could never fulfil his potential — though he was India's best-ever left-handed batsman until Sourav Ganguly came along.

Wadekar got the captaincy by sheer luck — the chairman of selectors, Vijay Merchant, thought he "was not very ambitious — ambitious for runs". Yet, Merchant made him captain because of his stoicism. "He is never overjoyed with success and is never down-hearted with failure," Merchant wrote years ago. "He is never nervous or embarrassed by any crisis."

Merchant removed the very popular MAK Pataudi to make way for Wadekar. In 1946, Merchant lost India's captaincy to Pataudi's father, Pataudi Sr. Did Merchant sack Pataudi Jr out of spite? This question stopped mattering the moment the unflappable Wadekar led India to triumph in the West Indies and England.

Wadekar did nurse the feeling that he had been hard done by. Seven years ago, when two spinners from the 1971 team commented that Wadekar wasn't an attacking captain, Wadekar was very upset and was at pains to point out that he wasn't defensive.

Wadekar came back as India's manager/coach in the early 1990s and formed a strong bond with captain Mohammad Azharuddin. On spin-friendly tracks at home, India routed one opposition after the other. Wadekar's only challenging tour in charge was in South Africa in 1992, when India lost 1-0 — the same scoreline that twice got him glory in 1971.

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