Ajit Wadekar, who led India to their first-ever Test series wins in West Indies and England in 1971, passed away in Mumbai on Wednesday, 15 August. He was 77 years old. The former India captain is survived by his wife Rekha, two sons and a daughter.
The Mumbai batsman, who played 37 Test matches, scored 2,113 runs at an average of 31.07. He notched one century and 14 fifties.
Here’s a look at big records held by Ajit Wadekar.
Historic Series Wins in England & WI
India were yet to win a Test match against West Indies when Ajit Wadekar’s team travelled to the Caribbean for a five-match series in 1971.
A certain Sunil Gavaskar, who played his debut Test series, scored 774 runs in 8 innings and helped India win their first-ever Test series in West Indies. Gavaskar and Dilip Sardesai (642 runs in 8 innings) led the way with the bat, and the spin trio of Srinivas Venkataraghavan, Bishan Bedi and Erapalli Prasanna spearheaded the bowling attack with 42 wickets in the series. India won the second Test and drew the other four matches in the series.
A few months later, the Indian spinners shone once again, this time in England. Srinivas Venkataraghavan, Bhagwath Chandrasekhar and Bishan Bedi took 37 wickets in three matches to help India win their first Test series in England 1-0.
India's Top Run-Scorer in Team’s First Overseas Series Win
India registered their first-ever overseas victory in New Zealand in 1968 under the captaincy of Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. India won the four-match series 3-1.
Wadekar was India’s top scorer in the series with 328 runs. The Mumbai batsman notched one century and two fifties at an average of 46.85.
First Indian Captain to Ask West Indies to Follow-On
The visitors didn’t get off to the greatest of starts in the first Test. They were reduced to 75/5 in the first innings of the first Test. However, Sardesai rescued the team with an incredible double century and the visitors posted 387 runs in the first innings.
Then the spin trio of Bedi, Prasanna and Venkataraghavan helped India bundle West Indies out for 217 runs, leaving them 170 runs short of India’s total. Since the first Test had become a four-day game after Day 1 was washed out, India could enforce the follow-on if West Indies were short of India’s total by 150 runs or more. Ajit Wadekar became the first Indian captain to enforce the follow-on against West Indies.
Rohan Kanhai scored 158 runs and helped West Indies save the Test match. The home side ended the Test at 385/5.
First Indian to Score a Test Century in New Zealand
An overseas century is always a special one, but a century which helps a team to go 2-1 up in a four-match series is even more special. Wadekar became the first Indian to score a century in New Zealand, when he played a knock of 143 runs in the third Test against New Zealand in 1968. He struck 12 boundaries during the innings. Wadekar’s century helped India attain a lead of 141 runs.
New Zealand were bundled out for 199 runs in the second innings and India won the match by 8 wickets.
(Statistics by Arun Gopalakrishnan)
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