Fending off the 'rebels'

The discontent over playing fees amongst leading Australian players had reached a flashpoint in the 1975-76 season. Ian Chappell led a rebellion against the establishment on behalf of the players. "Pay us more or we don't play," was his bold outburst.

Adding fuel to the fire of revolt was Kerry Packer, a no-nonsense business tycoon, who had his own battle to fight with the Australian Cricket Board over television rights for his Channel Nine. Frustrated that his offer was rejected, he made common cause with the players.

Thus was born a parallel cricket authority, with Packer roping in leading players from other countries for a rival series. All attempts to bring about a rapprochement failed and the cricket world was divided. Challenging the ICC was the newly-born World Series Cricket. All the leading players of the world, except those from India, were enticed with lucrative offers.

It was against this background that the Indian team undertook a tour of Australia in 1977-78 under Bishen Singh Bedi's captaincy. With all the top players, including the Chappell brothers, having joined the Packer circus, the Australian Board pulled out Bobby Simpson from retirement to have him lead the home side. It was one of the best-contested series between the two countries, with Australia eventually winning 3-2.

Both the teams, as indeed the rest of the Test-playing nations and the ICC, had a lot to prove, or rather disprove, as to how hard had the great players' rebellion hit officialdom.

In the beginning, there were not many takers for World Series Cricket's limited-overs matches, played on football grounds with drop-in pitches, coloured clothing and night games. But gauging from the equally modest attendances at official Test matches, the threat began to look real and a matter of great concern for the ICC and its affiliates.

Thank God for it that, at this crucial juncture, it wasn't a dull series. The first Test at Brisbane itself was a thrilling affair and set the tone for the rest of the series. It was anybody's match until the very end and Australia managed to win by 16 runs.

The comparatively inexperienced Australian batsmen could not cope with Indian spinner's guiles, especially Bishen Bedi, and were dismissed for mere 166. Only Peter Toohey, with a gallant knock of 82, had managed to show a degree of confidence. Yet the Aussies managed a slender 13-run lead, with India being bowled out for 153, only Vengsarkar and Viswanath offered any resistance.

How invaluable this lead turned out to be was seen in the dying moments of the match when India, chasing 341, fell just 17 runs short of victory.

Bobby Simpson (89) had brought all his experience into play against the spinners to give his team what had then looked like a winning total.

Whenever India has chased big targets, in this case 341, Sunil Gavaskar has always played a major role. His scintillating century raised great hopes. Dilip Vengsarkar, who was converted into an opener, however failed in the second knock. Mohinder Amarnarth, however, gave Gavaskar good support. Towards the end, Syed Kirmani made a valiant effort with a timely knock of 55. Bedi gave him good support and would have ended up as the winning skipper but for lack of resistance from the others.

Who knows, if Vengsarkar had been held back instead of opening the innings a second time, victory would have been India's.

Another thriller was to follow at Perth.

In the second Test, Australia, chasing 339, held on for dear life to scrape to a two-wicket win. The man who had eventually made victory possible was Tony Mann who had come in as night-watchman the previous evening, when the home team had lost opener Dyson cheaply at 13. Mann went to score 105.

Almost every batsmen clicked in this match, as India scored 402 and 330. Gavaskar and Amarnath were centurions in the second Innings.

In this high-scorinbg match, Bobby Simpson's 176 helped Australia to a first innings total of 394. After some anxious moments, they were able to successfully chase a target of 339. The Indian bowlers' inability to get rid of the night-watchman had cost them dearly.

Having been frustrated in the first two Tests, going down narrowly in both, India made a remarkable comeback, winning the next two handsomely. At Melbourne India won the third Test by 222 runs, Gavaskar scoring his third century of the series. India went even better in the fourth at Sydney, achieving a resounding innings victory to level the series at 2-2. The spinners had done a great job in this comeback.

India chased another mammoth target, of 494 in the fifth and deciding Test at Adelaide. They fell 47 runs short of victory. They all came up with useful knocks, but what was needed was at least one century, as India finished at 445, a highly creditable fourth innings effort.

India thus went down 2-3 in the series, a margin that could have been the other way round. The series had gone a long way in keeping interest in Test cricket alive and kicking.