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Architect of victories across the seas

For nearly 40 years, India had suffered humiliation on cricket tours of England. 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.

The man who cobbled an impossible alliance

Vajpayee's statesmanship was at its best in deftly handling such a delicate situation as the Kargil war. Not a single voice of dissent was raised either by the NDA partners or by the Opposition against a caretaker Prime Minister leading the nation to war.