Lord of Lord's : Dilip Vengsarkar
‘The Colonel'
Dilip Vengsarkar’
The Anderson-Tendulkar Test series is aptly placed before the big game at the home of Cricket- Lords, London. It is a dream for every Cricket lover to play at Lords so is for the Cricket lovers and enthusiast to visit / be witness to one of the games. Recently I had the privilege of visiting Lords and while having a tour was thrilled and excited to see big portrait of two of our greatest players displayed in the long room, Kapil Dev and Dilip Vengsarkar.
Dilip Vengsarkar with his rare distinction to score three centuries at Lords has earned the title of Lord of Lords which since June, 1986 still stands in his name.
Such is the power of Indian
Cricket, which again is being demonstrated led by Shubman Gill who s breaking
all records with his powerful batting. The coming days starting 10th
of July will witness another five days of competitive Cricket and the Gill definitely
take fresh guard and start from where he left at Edgbaston.
Who can emulate Dilip Vengsarkar with two greats Sachin and Virat couldn’t achieve this feat, is it Shubman next?
An encouraging and powerful
comment by late Dicky Rutnagur as he wrote in the Wisden Almanack about the
1986 series and Vengsarkar;
“Centuries, one at Lord’s and another at Headingley, on one of
the poorest Test pitches seen in England for some years, went so far towards
India’s achieving their 2-0 win....In each instance, Vengsarkar, having come in
at the fall of the second wicket, was still short of his century when joined by
the No.11 batsman. They were innings of the highest quality.
“He has made runs everywhere, but all his overseas Test hundreds have been
scored in England, where his reach and his technique of playing the ball late
stand him in such good stead, as he demonstrated so amply last summer.”
His three centuries at Lords
are still remembered as master piece, with each time he had to bat in varying conditions,
bowling attack and also India struggling to reach a respectable position.
One feels proud to see the name displayed at Lords dressing room.
The first century at Lords
of 103 runs in 1979 was under pressure with wickets falling and he carried his
bat, playing a crucial role in helping India draw the match. It was a composed
knock in tough conditions.
The second century at Lords
in 1982 he had batted through out for his classy innings embedded with superb
timing could not save India but 157 runs is still in the memory of all Cricket
lovers.
His hard work and passion
paid rich dividends when in 1986 he scored his third century of 126 runs a part
of the historic Test victory by five wickets with his batting and the century
was pivotal in setting up the victory. He was the Player of the Match.
Dilip Vengsarkar’s record at
Lord’s were impressive during that period when few Indians could thrive in
English conditions.
During his playing days he
remained the backbone in the top order during the 1980s with his expertise in
handling both pace and spin, which earned him the name of ‘Dependable number 3
batsman’.
Those days It
has been said that if David Gower been
born Indian and Dilip Vengsarkar an Englishman, they would have been national
symbols. Gower’s frivolous artistry made him enormously popular in India, but
the English viewed him with suspicion. Dilip Vengsarkar’s effective but
remaining always in low-key and being humble with the Indian image of the superstar, was the blueprint for English
acceptance. Such was the following in England for his exquisite batting skills.
These sentiments are the
truly expressed by the English Cricket experts and followers of the game due to
his excellent batting style and grace. His career statistics of 116 Test
matches with 17 centuries and averaging 42.13 with 6868 runs when compared with
his performance in 1980s remains as the best ever by any batter during that
period. During 1983 to 1987 Dilip Vengsarkar palyed 35 Tests scoring 2772 runs
at an average of 64.46 with 11 hundreds and 10 fifties.
Shubman is an extraordinary player and is playing exceptional Cricket at this moment. He has all the qualities to be a great & humble, submissive but assertive, dependable with elegance and above all is in limelight but without exhibiting his pride for such mammoth success; quite similar to Dilip Vengsarkar.
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Let's not put to much too much pressure on Shubman - let him play his game - records and landmarks will come along the way! But if India can keep up their performance as a team, we can expect another exciting 5 days of Test cricket
ReplyDeleteShubman has created new dreams for young India...he himself has taken the task to prove himself...with current squad his role as a batter is crucial and the article only highlights the glory of another great batsman India has produced whose record at Lords and England is unmatchable...Shubman is following the same pattern now.🏏
DeleteVery well written. Will it be re incarnation of the Lord of Lords?Let's wait and see. But whatever happens Test cricket wins.
ReplyDeleteWell said.
Delete