Runs n' Ruins
Runs n' Ruins is a book written by Sunil Gavaskar chronicling the events that took place during the 1983 cricket season. It was published by Rupa & Co.
Premise
The book chronicles the events after the 1983 Cricket World Cup. Pakistan and West Indies were AbOUT to tour the country. Gavaskar describes the events leading up to and during the 2 tours.
The tour by Pakistan
Sunil Gavaskar at that time had 27 test centuries to his credit. The world record for the most centuries, 29 was held by Don Bradman. In the lead up to this series, there was considerable excitement about the upcoming milestone. The INDIAN team warmed up for this series by playing a Day Night one day international at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi. It was the first cricket game in India to be played under lights.
The tour began with an unofficial ODI game played at Hyderabad. Pakistan batted first and compiled 151 for 8 in their allotted 46 overs. Javed Miandad top scored with 66. India chased the target comfortably and won the game by 4 wickets. Mohinder Amarnath top scored with 60, continuing his good form. This game also marked the first time that Sunil Gavaskar used his famous fiberglass skull cap.
Zaheer Abbas walks off
The first test was played at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore. Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri were dropped from the team and Dilip Doshi was recalled. The test was marred by bad weather and also a controversial walk off by captain Zaheer Abbas. India managed 275 in their first innings largely due to a 155 run partnership between Madan Lal and Roger Binny. Riding on Javed Miandad's 99, Pakistan managed to eke out a slender lead of 13 runs. By this time, the game was heading to a draw and The Only Reason to continue was to see if Gavaskar reached his 28th test hundred. Gavaskar mentions a meeting between noted Dadar Union player and coach Vasu Paranjape, astrologist Jitu Patel and himself, where the astrologist predicted that Gavaskar would score his hundred on 19 September, 1983.
On 19 September, the last day of the match, after having bowled out Pakistan, Gavaskar walked out to bat with Anshuman Gaekwad to open the second innings. The real controversy came in the last session. Under the playing regulations, a minimum of 77 overs had to be bowled on every day, but on the last day they also had to bowl 20 in the final hour regardless of how many overs had been bowled up to then. On the final morning, Zaheer sought out Madhav Gothoskar, the umpire and asked for clarification of the rules and he confirmed that all mandatory overs had to be bowled, regardless of the state of the game.
Gavaskar writes in the book "If his intention was to waste time so that fewer overs were bowled before the mandatory overs count began, then he was partly successful. If his intentions were to disturb the concentration of the batsmen, then he failed."
After tea, Gavaskar nearing his 28th test hundred opened up and started scoring freely. After the end of the 14th mandatory over, Zaheer Abbas walked off the field with his team without informing the umpires. Sunil Gavaskar and Anshuman Gaekwad stayed at the wicket. Gavaskar writes that "The umpires were stunned and did not know what was happening. Technically we had won the match at that point but in cases like this, and particularly in Indo-Pak cricket, a little flexibility is to be allowed." Umpire Gothoskar, issued an ultimatum to the Pakistan cricket team. If they did not continue the game, India will be awarded the match. Pakistan relented and came back. Gavaskar - "When play finally did start, I managed to get to my century in the twentieth over. As the ball streaked to the boundary, I glanced at Zaheer and he was already walking towards the pavilion along with his players and we followed."
Rest of the Pakistan Series
The tour shifted to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi for a day night one day international. The game was played to raise money for the Prime Minister's Relief fund. India won a thriller by one wicket. Kirti Azad starred in this game, with a knock of 71 not out and took 3 wickets with his bowling.
The second test match took place at the Gandhi Stadium, Jalandhar. This was the first ever test to be played at this ground. Rain once again played spoilsport and the match ended in a draw. The match is notable for Anshuman Gaekwad's patient 201 and Kapil Dev trapping Mohsin Khan LBW with the first ball of the match.
The third one day match was played at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. Sandeep Patil scored a quickfire 50 and helped India win the match.
The final test match of the series took place at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur. Sandeep Patil had been dropped for this test match, but was recalled at the last minute when Mohinder Amarnath was declared unfit. Roger Binny despite having scores of 81 and 54 in the previous tests was dropped. Gavakar writes "Binny was not selected. Instead a decision was taken to fly Sandeep Patil down from Bombay, although there was no way he could have reached Nagpur in time for the start of the game. Luckily, we batted first after overnight rain had delayed the start till after tea. Who exactly were the people who made the decision to ask Patil to fly down is not clear, though at the time it was announced that the team as a whole had met and insisted on Patil being asked to play. This is not true at all, because I do remember Kapil calling a meeting in the dressing room and informing the players, rather than asking their opinion. So it was quite clear that the decision was made by somebody else." The game ended as a draw with Ravi Shastri taking a five wicket haul..
Tour by West Indies
The rest of the book chronicles the tour by West Indies. India lost the 6 match test series 3-0 as the Indian batting was stopped by the likes of Andy Roberts, Michael Holding and Malcolm Marshall. India, the reigning world champions hosted West Indies, the runner up in the 1983 Cricket World Cup final in a series of 5 ODI matches. The First One was played at the Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium, Srinagar.
Gavaskar describes the crowd as amongst the worst he has seen in his life. "The crowd at the ground for our practice sessions was like any other crowd in India, anxious to see the players from near and shake hands, offer good wishes and ask for autographs. So when we arrived at the ground next morning to play, we were stunned by the change. As the Indian players came into the arena to loosen up and do their physical exercises, they were booed by some sections of the crowd. This was unbelievable. Here we were in India and being hooted even before a ball had been bowled. Being hooted at after a defeat is understandable, but this was INCredible. Moreover, there were many in the crowd shouting pro-Pakistan slogans which confounded us, because we were playing the West Indies and not Pakistan. The West Indians were as surprised As We Were but were obviously delighted to find support in their first big encounter against us after their defeat in the Prudential Cup finals." India eventually lost the game by 26 runs.. Gavaskar however stated that he would love to play in Srinagar again - "I have been asked whether I would play in Srinagar again and my answer is 'Yes', because I believe one does not hold any grudge in cricket and in any case one swallow doesn't make a summer."
India went on to lose the ODI series 5-0. Gavaskar scored his 29th century in the drawn 2nd test at Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi. Gavaskar brought out all the shots as he raced to his hundred in 94 balls. "Thus when I flicked a ball from Marshall past mid-on and it went off for a boundary, I was surprised when Dilip Vengsarkar stopped in the middle and said, 'Well played' and thrust his hand out. He must have known by the expression on my face that I did not know my score because he said, 'Bloody Hell, its your twenty-ninth."
Gavaskar broke Bradman's world record during the 6th test at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. India had decided to open the batting with Navjot Singh Sidhu and Anshuman Gaekwad. Gavaskar would bat at number 4. But Malcolm Marshall got rid of Gaekwad and Vengsarkar with India yet to open its account. Gavaskar recalls, "At the end of Marshall's over, as the slip fielders crossed, Viv laughed and said, 'Maan, it makes no difference if you bat lower. The score is still zero." Along with breaking the world record for most centuries, Sunil Gavaskar went past the then Indian record for the highest score held by Vinoo Mankad.
India did not win a single game against the West Indies losing the test series 3-0 and were white washed in the ODI series 5-0..