1971 : The Beginning of India's Cricketing Greatness

By Boria Majumdar| Gautam Bhattacharya

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About the book

1971 was the year that changed Indian cricket forever. Accustomed to seeing a talented but erratic Indian team go from one defeat to another, a stunned cricketing world watched in astonishment as India first beat the West Indies in a Test series on their home turf, and then emerged victorious over England-in England. Suddenly, the Indian team had become a force to reckon with.

Boria Majumdar and Gautam Bhattacharya’s book is a thrilling account of the 1971 twin tours, that brings to life the on-field excitement and the backroom drama. Against a canvas that features legends: Pataudi and Wadekar, who captained India to the two sensational series victories abroad; Sardesai, Durani, Viswanath, Engineer, Solkar, Abid Ali; the famed spin quartet of Bedi, Prasanna, Chandrasekhar and Venkataraghavan; and a young batsman named Sunil Gavaskar who was making his debut-it is the tale of a young country ready and eager to make an impression on the world stage.

Fifty years later, this is a wonderful book to relive those glory days with.

Pages: 304

Available in: Paperback

Language: English

Boria Majumdar

Boria Majumdar, a Rhodes scholar, is a historian by training who went to St John’s College, Oxford University, to do a DPhil on the social history of Indian cricket in October 2000. His doctorate was published as Twenty-Two Yards to Freedom: A Social History of Indian Cricket in December 2004. He has taught at the universities of Chicago, Toronto and La Trobe where he was the first distinguished visiting fellow in 2005. He was also a visiting fellow at Trinity College, University of Cambridge in 2009.

1971 – and here I will combine the two wins, West Indies and England – will always rank as one of the highest moments of my career. The only other achievement which I can think of that compares with 1971 is the 1983 World Cup win. - Sunil Gavaskar

The twin victories were very special; they also announced the arrival of Sunil Gavaskar who I felt was a complete batsman. While I was the manager of the Indian cricket team I saw Tendulkar blossoming before my eyes and that was special; subsequently we saw Virat Kohli who is brilliant. While not taking anything away from them, Sunil Gavaskar, to my mind, was something else: temperament, technique, courage, and a will to perform – you had to no option but to admire him. For me he was the greatest ever Indian batsman. - Bishan Singh Bedi

Anyone who was part of the celebrations in Mumbai after the England series win in 1971 will remember them till the last day of their life. We felt like royalty. Without a doubt, it was the highest point of my cricketing career. - Gundappa Viswanath

Winning abroad in those days was a remarkable achievement: the team had no fast bowlers, nor did it have athletic cricketers. Despite these limitations we did win in 1971. Just think about it: a team winning abroad, in front of foreign umpires, where 50-50 decisions always went in favour of the home team. To counter that and win made the effort timeless. - Kapil Dev