Fifteen years ago, upon their re-induction into cricket, South Africa played it’s first match in international cricket after a gap of 21 years and 8 months in Eden Gardens, Calcutta. Incidentally, it was also the first cricket match I viewed. The ticket pronounced an India-Pakistan match – Pakistan were due to tour India but had cancelled it due to increasing communal tensions. It meant that the world got the first view of the likes of Andrew Hudson, Peter Kirsten, Brian McMillian, Dave Richardson and South Africa’s greatest fast bowler post re-induction yet and arguably their greatest in history – “white lightning†Allan Donald. Kepler Wessels, who would go on to captain South Africa in their first test back in the international arena, had played for Australia earlier of course.
Back in 1991, as a nine year old, Rice and Cook reminded me more about food than cricket and Donald flashed Disney’s Donald Duck character in my head. Memorable Allan Donald versus Michael Atherton battles were yet to imprint permanent marks. The match itself was not particularly exciting. Wisden reports that the game started at 9 A.M. – a full twenty minutes earlier than the usual scheduled start of games at Eden Gardens – which meant batting was much more difficult in gloomy, cold and swing friendly conditions. South Africa were found wanting and managed only 177 in 47 overs (reduced). The trio of Kapil Dev, Prabhakar and Srinath exploited the conditions to finish with a total of five wickets in 29 overs giving away only 88 runs.
Kepler Wessels managed very slow 50 runs off 90 balls before he was bowled by Tendulkar. There was another player who reached a respectable 43 in that game. Adrian Kuiper was 32 and his best years were already behind him. Yet, he managed to give me my first lesson in cricket. Kuiper hit the only six in the South African inning and the Eden Gardens record crowd – knowledgeable and appreciative of good cricket at large – stood up to applaud the six. As a nine year old, I didn’t know the meaning of applauding good cricket or sportsmanship yet and asked my cousing brother “why applaud an opponent?†I did stand up and clapped and learnt a small but crucial aspect of the gentleman’s game that day.
India chased down that target in merely 40.4 overs and even though they lost 7 wickets, it was a comfortable victory. Sachin Tendulkar – another name which meant little back then, hit one of his many fast paced one day 50s which charecterised Tendulkar as a one day player back then but it was another unfancied Mumbai player who caught my attention. Pravin Amre was the other half centurian in that Indian innings. While Sanjay Manjrekar was the technician, Tendulkar was the stroke maker and Azharuddin was the master in placement, Pravin Amre was the style guru for me back in the day.
Lips tightly clenched, eyes wide open, Amre would hit the bat on the pitch very hard several times after he would take guard and as the bowler would run in to bowl. He would then hit the most audacious shots non chalantly. Hitting the pitch hard signified in a raw manner grittiness and intent to not throw his wicket away. Value for one’s wicket is a virtue I have always admired since then. Amre went on to make a 100 on test debut at bouncy Durban of all places and he would remain a hero despite being dropped after a string of poor performances. The man who made the biggest impression on that winter day at Eden Gardens was Allan Donald with his five wickets. Taking the first three wickets of Shastri, Sidhu and Manjrekar, Donald put India in a spot of bother. Twenty for three is not a score you can be comfortable with even when chasing only 177. Donald would go on to take 602 international wickets in total but he will not forget those 5 wickets he took on 10th November, 1991. Neither will this cricket addict who was hooked to cricket on that memorable day 15 years ago.
