WORLD CUP MOMENTS NO.10: Gavaskar's slow day out

The right-hander faced 174 deliveries. He was unbeaten on 36. India had lost just three wickets, with England winning by 202 runs. Even 44 years ago, it was a knock that beggared belief

Cricket was a different game in 1975, wasn’t it?

Make 334 batting first these days and you’re just sneaking past par. Back in 1975, however – when teams batted for 60 overs rather than 50, that was quite something.

And as England coasted to 334 for four against India at Lord’s under the captaincy of Mike Denness, Sunil Gavaskar – the great Sunil Gavaskar – decided against even attempting to chase down the mammoth total.

Sixty overs later, the right-hander had faced 174 deliveries on his own. He was unbeaten on 36. India had lost just three wickets, with England winning by 202 runs. Even 44 years ago, it was a knock that beggared belief and was greeted not with admiration, but with collective bafflement.

Dennesshad earlier made 37, though that came in 31 deliveries – 143 fewer than the future India skipper would face.

Gavaskar never spoke about the innings at the time. Eventually, however, he would protest his innocence, citing poor form and a slow pitch rather than a lack of faith in India’s capacity to chase it down.

"It is something that even now I really can't explain,” he said years later. “If you looked back at it, you'd actually see in the first few overs some shots which I'd never want to see again - cross-batted slogs. I wasn't overjoyed at the prospect of playing non-cricketing shots and I just got into a mental rut after that.

"There were occasions I felt like moving away from the stumps so I would be bowled. This was the only way to get away from the mental agony from which I was suffering. I couldn't force the pace and I couldn't get out."

^{John Snow runs in to bowl during England's 202-run win, with Gavaskar backing up at the non-striker's end.} 

There was one school of thought that after India had been skittled for just 42 on a previous visit to the Home of Cricket, Gavaskar had shut up shop, ensuring that such a collapse never repeated itself.

Others, though, have provided a more simple explanation, suggesting he simply did not believe that such a run-chase was feasible. Gulabrai Ramchand, the team’s manager, described the knock as “the most disgraceful and selfish performance I have ever seen”.

Only Gavaskar himself knows the real truth. Whatever it was, it took away from Dennis Amiss’ 137 – a display that showed quite what was possible on that pitch.

An extraordinary, curious, unfathomable performance from one of the greatest players of them all.

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