Rameshchandra Gangaram Nadkarni was an exceptional cricketer, his all-round skills somehow getting overshadowed by his legendary run-throttling left-arm spin that has no comparison in international cricket. In a country that shows scant respect for a documented past, its history and heroes, Nadkarni is still remembered for his astounding figures of bowling 27 maidens in 32 overs in which he conceded five runs, in the Madras Test against England in 1963-64. Of his 27 maidens, 21 came in one continuous spell!
His passing away, at the age of 86 last week, was the right time for us to dust our statistical archives and remind the cricket community of this astonishing feat. In an age that marvels at even one dot ball bowled, Nadkarni’s feats of bowling endlessly without conceding much, is nothing short of a wonder, worthy of being put in the “believe it or not” category. That Madras (not called Chennai then) feat was not a one off wonder, as in a Test career that lasted a decade and 41 matches, he conceded less than two per over for the 88 wickets he took.
However, to encapsulate his career in overs and maidens, without going into the historical significance of his contribution, would be an injustice not only to him but to Indian cricket history itself. He made his Test debut in an era dominated by India’s greatest all-round cricketer, Vinoo Mankad, and his debut in 1955 came as a replacement for Mankad who “rested” for the Kotla Test against New Zealand. That was the year I was born and a decade or more later, when I started following Indian cricket’s journey listening to radio commentary, the sentence, “Nadkarni has bowled another maiden” had a touch of routine to it and still resonates in my mind.
I was to get a new, fresh perspective on that era when I was doing research on a book I was planning to write on Tiger Pataudi. With almost no pacer worth the name for Pataudi to rely upon while on the tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1966-67, he was already in the process of creating an all-spin attack that was to dominate Indian cricket. Nadkarni was the only veteran in that team, in which the likes of Bishan Singh Bedi, Erapalli Parsanna and S Venkatraghavan were added to sharpen India’s bowling fangs. Bhagwat Chandrashekhar was the fourth cog in this wheel that redefined Indian cricket, giving it a new identity and respect around the world.
Nadkarni, with his magical run-restricting ability and complete loyalty to his captain’s cause, was the linchpin on which Pataudi planned his future all-spin strategy. India’s first overseas Test, as well as series victory against New Zealand in 1967, was a result of this all-spin assault launched by Pataudi, in which Nadkarni played a significant role. Prasanna and Bedi are more talked about in reference to that series, but the scoreboards show Nadkarni played as important a role as those two in that historic 3-1 series win. His 6 for 43 in the third Test played a crucial role in giving India the lead, before they went on to win the final Test as well.
Pataudi, generally miserly with his words, was very effusive in his praise for Nadkarni and wanted me to meet the man to understand the reasons behind the spin revolution and the role he had played in it. I met him around a decade back in Mumbai and in an hour or more I spent with him, Nadkarni was so self-effacing that he rarely talked about himself or his bowling. The more I wanted to know about him, how he felt being pushed out of the team because of Bedi’s emergence, the more he would talk about Pataudi’s great vision and contribution in shaping India’s cricketing destiny.
That series in New Zealand was also the last time he played for India, leaving Indian cricket to be dominated by the famed four-some of Bedi, Parsanna, Chandra and Venkat. In his passing away, India has lost the brick and mortar, one of the founding members of what the world knows as the great Indian spin era.