The Melbourne miracle - India's tour of Australia 1980-81

In this episode, we look back to India’s tour of Australia in 1980-81.

India went into the Test series against a strong Australian team after playing merely one Test since the end of the home series against Pakistan in 1979-80. India suffered a thumping loss by an innings at Sydney, just about squeezed out a draw at Adelaide, and registered a miraculous win in Melbourne – overcoming a massive first-innings deficit, a near-forfeiture by their captain, and injuries to three of the four bowlers in their attack.

Talking Points:

Greg Chappell’s serene double hundred

Vengsarkar’s rough start to his Test career

Lillee playing against India for the first time

The allure of Pascoe’s pace and the charm of Kim Hughes

Sandeep Patil’s sparkling 174 at Adelaide

Gavaskar’s near-forfeiture and Wing Commander Durani’s timely intervention

Viswanath’s priceless hundred

Ghavri’s “rank long hop”

Doshi’s marathon spell in the first innings and bowling through pain in the second

Kapil’s miraculous spell powered by painkillers

Participants:

S Giridhar (@midwickettales)

Raja Swaminathan (@Raja_sw)

Mahesh Sethuraman (@cornerd)