Knocking Bombay, the Mission Impossible

Karnataka were determined to knock the giants off the perch and create a legacy of their own.

Bengaluru: Talk to the members of the Class of 1973-74, who won Karnataka’s maiden Ranji Trophy title, they’ll unanimously rate the semifinal performance against mighty Bombay higher than the defining win over Rajasthan in the final. And rightly so.

Bombay, now known as Mumbai, were the irresistible force back then. They were quite literally the Mount Everest in domestic cricket, too daunting for any team to scale. They had won 15 consecutive Ranji Trophy titles and armed with players like Sunil Gavaskar, Vinoo Mankad, Ajit Wadekar and Eknath Solkar, they were the overwhelming favourites to beat Karnataka.

Karnataka, however, were determined to knock the giants off the perch and create a legacy of their own. And who better than the genius Gundappa Vishwanath to show them the way. The stylish batter, one seemed to have patent over cuts, hit a magnificent 162 as Karnataka, despite a middle-order wobble, posted 385 all out. Brijesh Patel, known for his dashing stroke-making, too sparkled with 106.

“Vishy and Brijesh really set the match up for us,” recalled AV Jayaprakash to DH. “Karnataka had lost opener VS Vijaykumar early to Ismail (10/1) and the pacer almost had Vishy trapped LBW off the very next ball. We all were very anxious but umpire gave it not out. We and Vishy were joyous while Gavaskar was furious. He just couldn’t believe how it wasn’t given out. But kudos to Vishy, he immediately put that behind him and went on to compile an incredible century. He just took apart the famed Mumbai bowling.

“And of course Brijesh. Some of the shots he played were gorgeous. He didn’t score much in the final but showed what a gifted batsman he is with a memorable century against mighty Mumbai in the semifinal. Big players live for big moments and Vishy and Brijesh were certainly made for the big occasion.”

Karnataka then needed a strong performance with the ball, considering the wealth of batters Bombay had. Bombay stumbled at the start, falling to 71/2 but then fought back through Wadekar and Mankad, the duo easily tackling spinning stalwarts Erapalli Prasanna and BS Chandrasekhar. As their partnership crossed the century mark, Karnataka started to feel the jitters. They needed a moment of brilliance to break the stand. Just as the shoulders were dropping, Sudhakar Rao resurrected Karnataka’s hopes with a brilliant run-out of Wadekar from point.

“Captain Prasanna had just got me stationed at point a couple of overs ago. With the way Wadekar and Mankad were batting, almost flawlessly in fact, we had to do something out of the ordinary. I got the chance when the duo tried to steal a single. I just rushed full throttle, picked the ball up and ran out Wadekar. I can safely admit, it was a game-changer,” said Sudhakar.

He, however, felt Prasanna’s dismissal of Gavaskar was more magical. “Oh what a beauty it was! Prasanna first deceived Gavaskar with a sharp turner. Then he outfoxed him with a floater, the ball crashing onto Gavaskar’s stump. The Little Master was shellshocked. It was almost like he’d seen a ghost. One genius outdoing another genius. A great wicket.”

Captain Prasanna ended up being the chief architect, his 5/117 dismissing Bombay for 307 and helping Karnataka take the all-important first innings lead. Like how Vishwanath was supported well by Brijesh, Prasanna was aided by his trusted lieutenant Chandrasekhar, the leg-spinner bagging 4/125.

Despite taking the first innings lead, Karnataka, who lost the 1959-60 final to Bombay as Mysore, were not out of the woods yet. Bombay are famous for their ‘khadoos’ — fighting — mentality and Karnataka needed a strong show in their second innings to ensure there isn’t any turnaround. There was some wobble but led by Brijesh’s 61 and 53 from Sudhakar, Karnataka declared their second innings at 279/8.

“Even before the semifinal, Prasanna kept telling us not to take our eyes off the ball even for a second against Bombay. They may appear dead and gone but if they get even a sniff of life, they can stage a comeback. That culture is prevalent even now as we saw in this season’s Ranji Trophy where they appeared in trouble on several occasions but triumphed in remarkable fashion,” said Sudhakar.

“When I went out to bat, Prasanna told me to try and bat as long as possible. We didn’t want to give Bombay time to chase down the target. I’m happy to have made a doughty 53. It was the final before the final. It was considered Mission Impossible but we did it.”

AV Jayaprakash.